The Game is Up
by LetYourStoriesOut
Summary: A new student joins Marinette and Adrien's class and seems to know something about Ladybug and Cat Noir and even Hawk Moth! Just who is this boy? And how coincidental that a new superhero appears in Paris around the same time? Rated T for safety.
1. New Student

Another day, another late start. Marinette was waking up on 31st October 2016. She turned in her bed to check her phone. She was in blind panic when she saw the time 8:45 her screen. School was starting right now!

'Thank god I live across the street.' Marinette thought. "Tiki. We gotta go, I'm late for school." The little kwami hid in Marinette's purse. Marinette quickly got dressed and ran downstairs with her bag, past her parents and straight towards the school. The doors were shut, but the blue-haired girl was ready bust them open. When she ran into the doors, she banged her entire body, revealing that the doors were locked. Marinette was confused, the doors at the school are only locked when the school is closed at the beginning and end of each day. At that point, Marinette's literature teacher, Miss Bustier arrived.

"Marinette?" The teacher called. "What are you doing here so early?"

"I thought I was running late for school. I ran here."

"Marinette, it's only 7:45. The clocks were turned back an hour last night. If you need to kill time, either go and get some breakfast or... well do whatever, but I can't let you into the school till 8:30."

"Erm. Okay." Marinette walked around to the side of the school and sat on a bench. She grabbed her purse and opened it to speak to Tiki. "I can't believe I arrived at school early. I feel a bit embarrassed."

"Look on the bright side, Marinette." Tiki responded. "No one will think you're late since you're not."

"Yeah. I'm gonna call Alya." Marinette grabbed her phone out of her bag and dialed Alya. The phone was ringing for about 4 seconds until...

 _"Hello?"_

"Alya. I never found out. Is the Halloween party still happening tonight?"

 _"Yeah. Celebrity fancy dress. You got your costume?"_

"Yep. Jagged Stone. Who else could I be?"

 _"I think our entire class will be Jagged. Well, except for Chloe. She'll dress normally, since she thinks she's a celebrity! Oh, I don't know if you heard but there's a new student joining us. I've heard he's arriving today."_

"I wonder what he'll be like. I hope he's more like Adrien and Nino than Kim."

 _"I guess we'll find out later. I'll see you there."_

At 8:45, everyone had arrived in Miss Bustier's classroom. Adrien and Nino were sat in front of Alya and Marinette. Everyone was chattering away to each other when Miss Bustier entered. The students became mute as Miss Bustier spoke.

"Good Morning, class. I'm sure some of you heard that we were getting a new student today. He is here permanently and I hope that you will all do your best to make him feel comfortable and welcome him to our class. Okay." Miss Bustier looked towards the classroom door. "Okay, Liam. Come in and introduce yourself."

The door opened and in walked a boy. Marinette could see that he wearing blue jeans, a black Harrington jacket, some unrecognizable trainers and had blue eyes and short dark blonde hair. The boy didn't seem too nervous about speaking. Marinette could tell he was a kind boy just by listening to his voice when he spoke.

"Hello, my name is Li-" The boy said before being cut off by the definition of spoiled brat, Chloé Bourgeois.

"LIAM REJETER! How have you been? You must be happy to see me again."

"Actually, Chloé. I was happy to see my new classmates. Then I saw you and now I am officially in hell." Liam scorned. Miss Bustier was worried that the two may start fighting.

"Uh, Liam. Why don't you take a seat next to Nathaniel at the back there?"

"Sure. I apologize for that slight outburst." Liam walked to the seat where Nathaniel was sat. "Are you Nathaniel?"

"Y-Yeah, that's me."

"Nice to meet you." Liam said, sitting down. At the front of the class, Alya and Marinette were whispering to each other.

"So... Liam knows Chloe." Alya said. "And not in the friendly way."

"Alya," Marinette whispered excitingly, "do you not realize who he is? Liam Rejeter is the son of Bryan Rejeter, the PRESIDENT OF FRANCE! I was told about them from my aunt Bridgette."

"WHOA! Do you think he'll attend the party tonight?"

"Marinette and Alya!" Miss Bustier shouted, "It's not nice to whisper about people behind their back. One more time and you're both off to the principal's office!"

Marinette and Alya went red. They could see that Chloe and Lila Rossi were snickering. "Sorry, Miss." They said, filled with embarrassment...

At lunch break, Alya and Marinette were sat at a table with Rose and Juleka. They were just talking about Chloe when Liam walked up to them.

"Hiya." The young man said. "Can I please join you?" Marinette, Alya and Rose nodded while Juleka said nothing. Liam smiled and sat down with the four girls. "I don't believe I had the chance to introduce myself properly. I am Liam Rejeter." Each girl introduced themselves.

"Nice to meet you, Liam." Rose said sweetly. "I'm Rose Lavillant."

"M-m-J-Juleka." Juleka stuttered.

"Alya Cesaire" Alya answered.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng." Marinette said. "Say, Liam? We're having a Halloween party tonight at Alix Kubdel's house and I was wondering if you would come? I'll have to ask Alix first."

"I'll gladly come." Liam answered, though he needed to know one more thing. "Erm, which one in the class is Alix?"

"She's the girl with pink hair and wears black and green."

"Okay. Thank you. The only person I really know is ugh, Chloé."

"She has caused everyone of us dread." Alya responded. "She got me suspended for a week, she trapped Juleka in the bathroom to keep her out of the school photo. She destroyed a letter Rose wrote to Prince Ali and well, what HASN'T she done to Marinette?"

"Here's what she did to me. When I was 11, I joined an after-school club for creative media. We could do music, films, games, comic books etc. I actually made friends in the club. I was best friends with this kid called Wallace West, though he preferred his nickname Wally. Anyway, since my father and her father are in politics, we eventually met. I told her about the club and she pleaded with me to get her in the club. When I did and she came in, the first thing she did was make offensive comments about Wally because he was black. I instantly agreed with Wally and the rest of my friends that she had to go. We voted her out and the next day we were visited by her father saying that the club was now disbanded and we had to leave, claiming the club kicked her out unfairly."

"That is just horrible." Rose said.

"There was also one time we she snuck into a party hosted by my brother, Félix. She was underage and was thrown out so she had Félix's car clamped and crushed. At least my dad got Chloe's father to pay for a replacement. Girls, I don't want to say it, but she's always been a bitch and she always will be. Anyway onto something more positive, is there any dress code for the party?"

"Yes." Marinette answered. "You dress as a zombie-fied celebrity. Doesn't matter if they are now alive or dead."

"Oooooooooooh, I am gonna enjoy this. I'll get a taxi later and see you there. I'm gonna go introduce myself to the rest of the class."

"Okay, bye." The four girls waved.

The bell rang 10 minutes later to signal lunch break over. Marinette and Alya started speaking about the Ladyblog.

"Do you think I should interview Liam for the Ladyblog?" Alya asked.

"It sounds like a good idea. He's never even implied that he's heard of Ladybug."

"I'll give him a shout at the party, tonight. In the meantime, we should get school over with and get ready for the party."

That evening, Marinette added finishing touches to her costume. For the party, she was dressing as an undead Jagged Stone...


	2. Learning about the bug and the cat

AN: I really want to thank everyone who reviewed, followed, or favorited this story. I thought I might have only gotten 1 review, and to see that support on just the first chapter really makes me so happy so thank you very much. I hope I continue to impress you all. With that all said, let's continue the story.

It was 5:30 pm and Marinette was now dressed as zombie Jagged Stone, ready for the party. Alya is supposed to be arriving at 5:40 and they would walk to Alix's house. Marinette had gotten almost every single detail about Jagged's appearance correct. She had the black hair that was missing some patches, the split eyebrows, the beard now slightly shaded red due to being soaked in fake blood, the leather jacket that had been torn, the yellow pants that wear torn at the knees and had dried fake blood., the designer shoes, and even his skull with wings pendant and Eiffel Tower glasses that Marinette designed to look like she was missing an eye. Well of course she'd get the glasses perfect, she designed the original pair that Jagged himself wears. She started walking downstairs into the bakery and her mother Sabine caught her.

"Marinette?" Sabine said, stunned at how much her daughter looked like the rock star. "You've really got the details of Jagged Stone right."

"Thanks, Mom. The new student from school's going as well. He told me when we left school that he'll be going as Bulky Steel-"

"Bulky Steel. When I was your age, he was our Jagged Stone. I think he was actually Jagged's mentor until he passed."

"Wow, Mom. I never even heard of him. I guess you really do learn something new every day."

"Ha ha. Enjoy the party, Marinette. But be out too late. You've got school tomorrow."

Marinette nodded at her mother and left the bakery. Alya was outside waiting, dressed as...

"Gabriel Agreste?" Marinette asked, confused. Alya was wearing a pitted white dress shirt underneath a silver vest that had a pocket missing and some missing buttons and a cream-colored dress jacket, along with a slashed tie that had stripes similar to a candy cane. She was also wearing red dress pants that were torn in places and covered in mud and white shoes that had holes in them. She also had dark green face paint, a blonde wig styled similar to Gabriel's hair and a prosthetic on her neck to give the impression that she had a slit throat.

"I would've gone with Jagged Stone." Alya explained, "But I knew you'd choose him. The only things I didn't get were his ring since we didn't have one, and his glasses, because I wear glasses anyway. But look at you, girl!" Alya observed Marinette. "You really are a die-hard fan. But you forgot his guitar."

"AW, MAN! I am a total klutz!"

"Don't worry about it, let's go!" Alya and Marinette started walking. After about 25 minutes, they were at Alix's house. It was like a house on Beverly Hills, it had a gate and security. There was a security guard at the gate, and he was validating invites for Rose, Juleka and Lila, with only Rose dressed differently, with her dress being black instead of the usual pink. Alya and Marinette walked over to speak to the girls.

"Guys?" Marinette asked. "What's going on?"

"Stupid guard won't let us in." Lila answered, in an annoyed tone.

"No one gets in." The guard said. "Unless you have an invite from Mr Kubdel or-"

"Bruce!" shouted a voice behind the guard, belonging to Alix. "Theses girls are here for my party. I gave you a photo with two people circled, meaning you keep them out. List their names out to me."

"Chloe Bourgeois and Sabrina Raincomprix."

"That's not a very long list, is it?"

"Point taken, Miss Kubdel. My apologies, Ladies, enjoy your night." The five girls entered Alix's house. The lounge had a 50 inch plasma TV, two red velvet sofas and a glass table. Nino had already arrived, looking like a zombie version of himself. "Yo, Jagged Stone! What are you doing a party like this?"

Marinette was surprised. Her costume of Jagged Stone was so accurate, Nnio thought she _was_ Jagged.

"Nino, it's me!" The out-of-costume Ladybug answered.

"Marinette! Whoa-ho, you could pass as the real deal!" Nino then looked at Alya, dressed as a zombie Gabriel Agreste. "Alya, you actually _dressed_ as a fashion designer? You didn't actually _have_ to dress up."

"If I'd known that!" Alya said, frustrated. "I hope Adrien doesn't see me in this."

"Adrien isn't coming. His old man won't let him."

"Oh man." Marinette said, "I guess Gabriel's still relucant to let him be his own man. Is anyone else coming?"

"Only time will tell. I know the new kid Liam's meant to be here, but he said he wanted to speak to Adrien before coming."

 _At the Agreste Mansion.._ Liam Rejeter and Adrien were sat in Adrien's bedroom. Liam was observing the room with eagle eyes.

"I've got a room in my father's mansion that has tennis court, a football pitch, AND a swimming pool. And it is, believe it or not, SMALLER than this bedroom."

"Really?" the Agreste kid asked. "My dad did always try and spoil me, but I was always taught to share by my mother..." Liam saw Adrien's authentic smile become a false smile and thought about how to change the subject to cheer him up.

"I-I've heard that two superheroes are in Paris. Ladybug and Cat Noir. What are they like?"

"Oh, they are amazing! Ladybug is the leader. She's very confident and determined, and if any citizens are caught in the crossfire against a villain, they are Ladybug's priority, and when she and Cat Noir win, she uses a power called Miraculous Ladybug to repair all damage done to property during the battle, I've heard it can actually revert death."

"Sounds like Ladybug's very experienced in the super heroics. What about Cat Noir? What do you think of him?"

"Oh. Well..." Little did Adrien and Liam know, Adrien's kwami, Plagg had been sneak-eating Camembert cheese under Adrien's bed and the dust was now getting to the kwami.

"Ah-Ah-Ah-AHCHOO!"

The kwami flew off like a speeding bullet and struck Liam on his cheek. Adrien was stunned by this event happening, mainly because it happened so fast. Liam was also stunned and unable to speak. Adrien ran and got an ice pack from his mini-fridge to put on Liam's cheek. Liam looked around and saw Plagg, posing as a toy and picked him up. Adrien started panicking and quickly gave a false explanation.

"That's a new Chinese toy that my father had imported for me. It has that jump feature that once broke my bedroom window."

Liam seemed to fall for it. "Well you need to be more careful..." Adrien mentally let out a 'phew'. "Because you cannot lie under pressure, Adrien." Liam then turned to Plagg in his hands. "Plagg this is the second Cat Noir I've seen and even **he** can't lie. You need to take some tips from Trixx and give them to Adrien. Plus the amount of Camembert cheese you eat... I could smell you when I entered the room."

Adrien was starting to freak out. "Oh, no! I'm supposed to keep that a secret! What am-" He stopped when he realized what Liam had said. "Wait, I'm the _second_ Cat Noir? Who's the first?"

Liam stood up. He started walking towards the bedroom window.

"My brother. Felix Rejeter."

AN: Holy Shit. Liam not only knows that Adrien is Cat Noir, but his brother, Felix was the first Cat Noir. What will happen next? That's for me to know and you to find out. By the way, Trixx is the name of the Fox kwami, so Liam knows about other kwamis. Also, should Felix appear in this story, he will have the same appearance he had in the Ladybug PV. But he won't have the same personality. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you later.


	3. The Party and A Victim Again

Adrien was stunned by what Liam told him. He wasn't the first Cat Noir in France? Adrien needed to know more.

"When was your brother Cat Noir?" The unmasked superhero asked.

"During the 1990's. I actually live with him and his girlfriend. My dad's never allowed a single second to tend to me and my mom taught me to live independently so I wish knew why they asked Félix to see to me. He has his own life to live." Liam scoffed after realizing he was still talking to Adrien. "I'm sorry Adrien. I'm telling about my life while the most important thing is your secret." Liam seemed to be in deep thought. "I swear, Adrien. No one will know your secret... Whatever it was."

"What do you mean 'whatever it wa-'. Ohhh! Okay. I get it."

Liam and Adrien started chuckling. I'm being really cheeky, But can I please use your computer? I've yet to see Ladybug in action and she sounds amazing."

"Yeah, she is." Adrien said, becoming entranced before snappingUh, sure." Adrien walked over to his computer, Liam following behind him. He opened up the computer's desktop. "I know where you want to look. Alya started a blog dedicated to Ladybug. She calls it the 'Ladyblog'."

"How creative."

Adrien opened Alya's Ladyblog. The first video that appeared was Alya's interview with Lila. "Ignore that one. Lila's said so much crud, she's actually a bigger liar than Chloé."

"More breaking news: There are actually 25 hours in a day. Did Bourgeois tell you why we fell out?"

"She said you'd kicked her out of your after-school club for no reason."

"There was a reason. She wanted to be part of the club and thougt I could help. (Nevermind the fact that we were attending different schools and the club was exclusive to my school.) In the end, I managed to convince the adults to let her attend. However the first minute she met my friends, she started being racist and offensive to them. The one who got the worst of it was my friend Wally. We decided to kick her out and she got her dad to disband the club and even discredit the school."

"Okay, her and I are done now." Adrien said angrily. He soon changed his tone when he saw the right video. "Ooh, here. Alya once interviewed Ladybug. Sit down and I'll watch it with you."

Liam and Adrien both sat down to watch the video. They watched about 2 minutes of the 13 minute video when Adrien received a phone call. It was Alix. Adrien answered.

"Hello?... ...Yeah he's here."

"Aww shit!" Liam exclaimed. "I forgot about the party! Alix, I'll come right now, but I've not got my costume."

 _"Don't worry about it!"_ Alix screamed. _"Just get your butt over here. Kim's placing bets on whether you're coming or not."_

Liam was about to run straight out of Adrien's room, but he stopped. "Adrien, I can give you some tips on your hobby. If we exchange numbers, you can call whenever." Adrien wrote his number on a stick-it note and Liam did the same. After giving each other their numbers, Liam then ran out of the room, out of the mansion doors, through the mansion gate and into a nearby alley. He moved the right sleeve up on his jacket to reveal a strange wrist watch. It had two colours on the band, the outer band was black and the inner band was yellow. The rim was fully black and there were no hands to signify the time, just a yellow circle.

"I hope I'm fast enough." Liam whispered to himself...

* * *

Ten minutes later, at Alix's house, Alix, Marinette and Alya were talking about Liam, with Marinette and Alya still in their costumes.

"That dude can't make it here in time." Alix said. "Kim's actually gonna win the bet."

"Did you even give him the address?" Alya asked. "He probably has no clue where he's going!"

Before Marinette could say anything, Kim walked over to insult Alix.

"Looks like it's over, Kubdel. 50 euros from you, Lila, Max and Ivan. 200 Euros."

"Well, then." A voice made Kim jump. "I hope you have that kind of money on you, Kimberley." Kim turned to see Liam. "Otherwise, you're gonna get your legs broken." Kim screamed, gathering the attention of all the party attendees. Liam actually had a shocked look on his face. "I'm only joking, man!"

Alix walked over to Liam. "How did you get here so fast?" The tomboyish girl asked.

"I'm a good runner. I ran so fast, you could say I went _flying._ "

"Race. Tomorrow afternoon. At the Trocadero. I'll get everyone there."

"You're on." Liam walked off and Alix walked back over to Marinette and Alya. Liam could see that no one was really dancing or having an amazing time. He decided to rectify this by looking for the controls for Alix's home stereo system. After looking around discreetly, he found them in the closet underneath the stairs. He snuck in and attached his phone to the home stereo system using a wireless adapter. He started playing a Halloween playlist which began with Ghostbusters. Sneaking back out and leaving his phone hidden, he saw Rose, Juleka, Marinette and Alya starting to dance and joined in.

The party livened up until 7:30, when people started to leave. The only people left were Alix, Alya, Marinette, Rose, Juleka, Lila and Liam. Liam went back to the stairs to get his adapter, but Lila was waiting for him and snatched his phone off him.

"AHA! So it was you who changed the music without Alix's permission. Here's two tips: 1. Don't do the crime if you can't do the time and 2. If you don't want people to know what you're gonna do, don't do it."

"Okay, Lila. You got me. I did connect my phone to the system without Alix's permission. She can get payback however she wants. If her father wants to punish me, fine. I will take whatever they throw at me. I'll apologize to Alix. Now that I've said all this, can I have my phone back, please? I need it to phone my brother so he can pick me up."

"When you go in the living room and admit all this to Alix and everyone else, you can have your phone back when you're ready for your brother to come get you." Lila the liar answered. Liam walked into Alix's living room, where everyone was waiting and before he could say a word...

"We already heard you." Alix said. "Lila stopped the music. While I am upset that you did that without asking me, everyone had a good time. Plus, you got good taste. But you, Lila, this is what turned people against you. Taking whatever with no regard for others. You're a more independent Chloé."

"Don't you ever compare me to her! You ain't perfect either, you've clearly got a Lady hard on for president junior over there." Alix and Liam gave a strange face to Lila.

"Lila, you're not gonna make any friends like this." Liam said. Lila threw Liam's phone at him like a baseball. He was able to catch it, but Lila caught him off guard and threw his phone adapter at him, which hit him in the same place Plagg hit earlier, exposing the bruise that Liam covered up. Everyone was shocked at the sight, believing Lila had given him the bruise.

"That's it Lila!" Alix shouted. "You have got no respect for us. So you're not getting any from us."

"Do you think I need your respect? I know Prince Ali! I'm already more respectful than any of you."

Liam smiled, connected his phone to the adapter and began ringing a contact. The phone ring could be heard through the living room. The ring was finally answered.

 _"Hello?"_

"Hello. This is Liam Rejeter. Is that Prince Ali?"

 _"Ah, yes. Hello, Liam. I am surprised to receive a call. Is there a big emergency?"_

"Not at all, your highness. I would just like you to clarify something. Do you know a Lila Rossi?"

 _"Lila Rossi? No. I can not say that I do."_

"Okay. Thank you, Your Highness."

 _"Anytime, my friend. Goodbye."_

"Goodbye." Liam ended the call. "Lila Rossi lies about knowing royalty. Other breaking news: Water is a liquid. Oh, and that necklace does not convince me. It's clearly fake."

"Fake?!" Lila exploded. "FUCK YOU, YOU LITTLE BASTARD! YOU AND ALIX HAVE ONE THING IN COMMON: YOU'RE SO SMALL, IF YOU GOT ENOUGH FAKE TAN AND GREEN HAIR DYE, YOU COULD WORK FOR WILLY WONKA!"

"LILA!" Alix screamed. She walked over to Lila and slapped her across her face. "You have got no chance in our class. You make insults like that to someone like Ivan and he'll eat you alive. Insult Mylène and Ivan will once again eat you alive. Now do us all a favor."

"A FAVOR?!"

"Yeah. Fuck off home."

Lila quickly left, bumping into Marinette on her way out. Alix turned to Liam. The blonde boy spoke.

"I should have stuck up for myself more. Thanks for the help, Alix."

"No problem. You should phone your brother, have come get you. If it wasn't a school night, I'd let you stay over."

"It's the thought that counts. I'm so sorry for all this, guys." Liam said to Alya, Rose, Juleka and Marinette. "I shouldn't have let it escalate as far as it did."

"Never mind that." Alya answered. "That girl's given you a huge bruise. You might need to get that looked at."

"I'll get an ice pack on it when I get home. Speaking of home, how are you guys getting from here?"

Rose spoke up. "Juleka and I have got my mother picking us up."

"And Alya and I are walking." Marinette answered.

"Well, if you wait, I'm sure my brother can drop you off." Liam responded.

"Aw thank you."

While Liam and the girls were recovering from the events, Lila was running down the street.

"Little bastards! They're perfect for each other. They are just like Ladybug, and they deserve the same fate!" At that moment, a window opened in an unknown location and butterflies flew off from the ground while a certain masked man started his traditional monologue.

"Ah, she is angry once more. As I said, Ladybug: You haven't seen the last of Volpina." Hawk Moth opened his hand and a butterfly landed on his palm. He placed his spare hand over the butterfly and corrupted it with pure evil. The butterfly then flew out of the window. "Fly away, my evil akuma, and bring that girl back to our side!" The akuma set off across Paris. The purple butterfly eventually reached Lila and bonded itself to her necklace. At that moment, Lila stopped in her tracks as the typical image appeared over her face and Hawk Moth spoke. "This is your second chance, Volpina. I don't give second chances that often. You will get Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous for me, even if you have to bait them. I'm granting you the ability to change yourself into anyone you wish. Use this to your advantage."

"Thank You, Hawk Moth. I will not fail again." Lila was covered in black and purple and when the darkness vanished, she was once again wearing her Volpina outfit. Hearing a car approaching, she changed into her citizen clothing. As the car, a silver 2004 Toyota Prius, passed, it seemed the driver didn't notice as they kept driving... Because their destination was Alix's house. The car pulled up, but the driver kept the engine running as he got out of the car. It was a man wearing a white dress shirt underneath a dark brown vest with a black tie. He was also sporting black dress shoes and trousers and pale-blonde hair that was combed back. Liam came out of the house to greet the man.

"Félix!" Liam said. "I didn't expect you to be here so quick."

"Well, you were supposed to phone me to let me know you got here." Félix spoke in a firm and annoyed tone. (AN: If I would have Félix's voice be done by anyone, it would be Michael Fassbender) "Now come on, Bridgette's doing some supper."

"Um, before we go, my new friends need a ride home."

"Well, they can call a taxi."

"Come on! It's only Alya and Marinette."

Félix changed his tone and gave an intrigued look. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng?" Liam nodded, causing Félix to think for a second. "Okay. Marinette, Alya! Come and get in the car."

Marinette and Alya came out of the house and Félix gave a straight face at their costumes. "Whatever. Okay. you two in the back; Liam, you're in the front." Liam, Marinette and Alya got in Félix's car. Alix came out of the house in time to wave them goodbye. Félix took no notice and started driving down the street the way he came. Alya jumped at a realization.

"The two sons of the french president! I gotta get an interview. Félix, how old are you? There's no sources on your age."

"I'm 36." Alya was wide-eyed.

"You're 22 years older than your brother?!"

"21 years older. It's not impossible." Liam answered.

"Okay. Back to you, Félix. What's your opinion on Ladybug and Cat Noir?"

Félix gave a micro-expression of smiling then back to straight face. "They get the job done. Though I could do without Cat Noir's puns, he loses his right to be taken seriously." Félix turned his head back and saw Alya was holding her phone out horizontally. "Wait, are you videoing this? Stop the video recording and delete it, now!"

"Why?!"

"It's my car and I don't like people videoing me. Now, don't make me take it off-" Félix was cutoff by Liam.

"Félix, look out!" Félix looked to see what looked like Adrien on the road, so he quickly swerved, but hit a metal fence, crashing the car. Marinette and Alya were in shock, Félix seemed to have obtained whiplash and Liam had cut his head. Adrien walked over to the car with a straight look on his face. He opened the door that showed Liam and dragged him out, threw him to the floor and started kicking trampling on him. Marinette and Alya got out of the car and Marinette quickly ran to a spot where she could summon Tiki, leaving Alya annoyed and frightened. She wanted to help Liam, but what would stop Adrien from attacking her instead?

'Why is Adrien even attacking Liam?' Alya thought to herself. 'What would make Adrien attack Liam like this?' Alya was so distracted by the fight that she didn't realize that Félix had gotten out of the car until he knocked Adrien to the ground and started punching him in the face.

"That's my brother, you hit him one more time-!" Félix was cut off when Adrien grabbed his fist in his hand.

"You'll be powerless to help him!" Adrien said as he twisted Félix's hand quick enough to break his wrist, bringing a loud scream from the man. Adrien wrapped his legs around Félix's neck and turned him on his back. While this was happening, Alya had picked Liam up and gotten him to safety and Marinette had found a spot to summon Tiki.

"We gotta help out." Marinette said to the kwami. "Tiki, SPOTS ON!" Tiki was absorbed into Marinette's left earring. The girl moved her hands over her eyes and the red mask with black spots materialized, soon followed by the rest of the costume. The Jagged Stone costume, wig and fake beard disappeared and Marinette's natural her appeared in the usual pigtails. At last, Ladybug was on the scene...

Liam and Alya were thinking of what to do next. Liam took out his phone and the number Adrien gave him and rang it.

 _"Hello?"_

"Hello, who is this?"

 _"Liam? It's Adrien."_

"Where are you?"

 _"Home."_

"Well, your identical twin's down here at the end of Alix's street trying to kill my brother! I hope Ladybug and Cat Noir show up soon!"

Adrien hung up and, as if instinctively, shouted. "Plagg, CLAWS OUT!" The black kwami was absorbed into Adrien's ring. The young boy moved his right hand over his eyes and his mask appeared. He brushed his hair with his hands and cat ears materialized. The rest of the suit came as well. Now, Cat Noir set off to the fight location...

Liam and Alya were still observing the fight when Ladybug shouted from above.

"What did that man do to you?" Ladybug asked "Adrien" before jumping to the ground. "You got one chance to calm yourself down. I don't wanna fight you."

"Well, you've just made my job easier. After last time, you got this coming!"

"Excuse me?" A familiar voice said. Everyone turned to see Cat Noir. "When did we ever fight you?"

Adrien turned into orange mist which, when cleared, revealed the true culprit.

"VOLPINA?!" Ladybug and Cat Noir exclaimed in shock.

"I've been given a second chance. I will not fail Hawk Moth again." Volpina set her targets on Cat Noir and, after punching Félix one more time, lunged at him. Cat Noir used his staff to knock her to the side and miss. Volpina stood up and set her sights on Ladybug. Whilst the three fought again, Alya ran to try and get Félix away from the fight, no one realizing that Liam was missing.

The youngest Rejeter had snuck off to find a safe spot. After finding a spot where no one could see him, he got his wrist watch out.

"You're not alone, Ladybug and Cat Noir." Liam whispered to himself. He pressed the yellow circle down and a suit materialized over him. His shoes changed into plain black shoes that ran halfway to his knees, the rest of his lower body being yellow with a black belt. His upper body was black at the front and back and the sides were yellow. The hands were now with black gloves that ran until three quarters of the way to his elbow and the biceps were yellow. His head was completely black, except for white eyes that made facial expressions, and small yellow rods where his ears were that ran to the top of his head. When he spoke, his voice was distorted to be unrecognizable. "Cos now, Volpina is gonna feel the painful sting from... ...the Hornet!"


	4. Bug, Cat, Fox, Wasp?

Ladybug and Cat Noir were still fighting Volpina. Félix had woken up next to Alya, his head throbbing from the punches Volpina had thrown at him and his vision blurred but clear enough to see his successor and Ladybug. He slowly stood up and limped over to Alya and stared at the superhero duo.

"Ladybug and Cat Noir." Félix said.

"Sure is." Alya responded. "They'll deal with this." Félix gazed at Cat Noir before looking round. He noticed something unusual.

"Where's Liam?"

Alya looked around. "Didn't even see him go. He's probably gone for help.."

Felix thought in his head... 'You just think that, Alya...'

Ladybug and Cat Noir continued to fight Volpina. Cat Noir extended his staff and Volpina extended her flute and the two engaged in a 'sword fight'. Ladybug throw her yo-yo at Volpina and it wrapped around Volpina's arm, allowing Ladybug to pull her to the ground. Volpina kicked Ladybug and jumped up onto her feet. Deciding to use another strategy, Volpina jumped forward onto a house roof and kept going until she reached Alix's house. However, when she landed on the roof, she was confronted by a strange black and yellow figure. Unbeknownst to her, this was Liam Rejeter, donning the identity of the Hornet. He spoke in his distorted voice.

"Causing a car crash and beating the innocent driver to a pulp while disguised as an innocent citizen is far more than enough to make me want to kick your butt." Hornet grabbed Volpina and threw her back onto the pathway. The noise must've alerted Alix as she walked outside from in her house.

"The hell's going o-?" Alix could say before Volpina shot up, grabbed her by the throat and pinned her to the wall of the house.

"When I'm done with you, Kubdel, your boyfriend's next." Volpina threatened Alix. Alix was choking from Volpina's grip, one hand was around Volpina's wrist and the other was trying to grasp anything that she could hit Volpina with. Hornet walked forward to jump down, opening fly wings on his back. Using his wings, he slowly glided down and struck Volpina on the back of the head, knocking her to the ground and releasing Alix from her grip.

"You okay?" Hornet asked the pink haired girl. Alix nodded, still getting her breath back and unable to speak at the minute. "Don't try and heal too fast, you need to be in shape for the race." Alix gave a shocked look since the only person who she told about the race was Liam. 'Well done, Liam. Now think of a way out of this, you donkey.' Hornet hoped this would work. "I'm just messing with ya." At that moment, Ladybug and Cat Noir arrived and surrounded Volpina with Hornet. The two of them were speechless about Hornet. "Who are you?" Ladybug asked. Before Hornet could respond, Volpina used her flute to trip the three of them up.

'Damn it, Liam!' Hornet thought to himself. "Alright. You asked for it. BUZZKILL!" Hornet's left hand was covered by a yellow sphere with his fingertips popping out. He dashed towards Volpina and pressed his hand on her shoulder, which caused her to freeze. "Ladybug, capture the akuma and purify it."

Ladybug shot up on her feet, grabbed Volpina's necklace, smashed it and did her thing.

"No more evil-doing for you, little akuma." Ladybug spun her yo-yo around. "TIME TO DE-EVILIZE!" Ladybug's yo-yo caught the akuma and retracted itself into Ladybug's hand. "Gotcha!" Ladybug opened her yo-yo to release the now pure butterfly. "Bye-bye, little butterfly." When the butterfly flew away. Ladybug was now confused. "How do I-?"

"If you need to use Miraculous Ladybug and you don't have an object from your Lucky Charm, throw your yo-yo up in the air and shout it."

"Errr. MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!" Ladybug threw the yo-yo in the air and the bursts of enegry shot out towards the areas where damage had been caused by the battle. Félix's car was repaired and straight on the road and everyone's injuries were healed. Félix and Alya ran over and joined the three of them and the now free Lila. Lila had no memory of what she did.

"What's going on? How did I end up here again?" Lila asked.

This is the part where Ladybug and Cat Noir usually say "Pound it", but this time, they were more interested in the Hornet.

"Who are you?" Ladybug asked Hornet. "And how did you know I could that when even I didn't know I could do it?"

"I am the Hornet." Hornet answered. "And I know your abilities because I've been stalking you for weeks."

"How have-?"

"I'm messing with ya, Miss Sensitive. I've known your powers since I've figured out your identity. I'm just gonna keep giving false reasons."

"What was that thing you did?" Cat Noir asked.

"It's my special ability. Stuns the victim for 5 minutes. I've heard about those puns you make. If you make any of them when you're with me, I'll use it on you. That'll shut you up."

"You're not very friendly. What's your miraculous?"

"Don't have one, I'm too good for. That's all tonight. I'll tell you more when I want to." With that, Hornet ran and flew off with his wings while Ladybug, Cat Noir, Alya, Félix and Lila watched.

"That guy seems to be a poor man's Chloé Bourgeois." Alya said.

'Real Jekyll and Hyde.' Félix said in his head, before speaking out loud. "I know this may be an awkward time, Alya, but I can still get you and Marinette home, where ever she is."

"She's like this all the time. Actually, where's Liam for that matter?"

"I'm sure your friends are alright." Cat Noir responded. "I can help you find them if you wish." As Cat Noir tended to Félix, Alya and Alix, Ladybug looked down to Lila, bent down and held her hand out, Lila grabbed Ladybug's and she pulled her up. Ladybug spoke to the girl.

"Lila. I am so sorry about what I did. I was out of order and was acting like Chloé Bourgeois, treating a boy as a trophy and another girl as a threat. That's not what superheroes should do. I hope you can forgive me, but if not, then please don't hate Adrien. He's innocent."

Lila remained silent for about six seconds before speaking. "I forgive you, Ladybug. And I'm sorry to you and I'll apologize to Adrien tomorrow at school. I shouldn't have lied to him." Lila and Ladybug smiled at each other. Alix was beginning to gag.

"Alright, enough." The tomboy said. Félix had gone and gotten his car and brought it back round. Alya got in and Félix was kind enough to let Lila get in as well. Ladybug and Cat Noir were just watching them until Ladybug spoke.

"If I see your friends." Ladybug shouted. Félix drove off. "Alright. Bug out." Ladybug swung away on her yo-yo and Cat Noir soon left by using his staff as helicopter blades...

When Ladybug got home to her bakery, she landed on the roof, climbed through the trapdoor down into her bedroom and changed back into Marinette. Her Jagged Stone outfit reappeared as her costume disappeared and Tikki emerged from her left earring. Since Ladybug did not use Lucky Charm in the battle, Tikki was not tired or hungry, but just as baffled as Marinette about the Hornet.

"Tikki, do you know who that guy was?" Marinette asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, Marinette." The little kwami. "Though he seemed awfully familiar... Marinette, I need leave to consult the great guardian on this. You'll be fine without me, won't you?"

"Yes, but given your size, I should be asking YOU that question. Will you be able to get there by yourself?"

"I'll be fine, Marinette. But I might be gone all night. If so, don't worry, just go about your day as normal and shout if you need Ladybug."

"Err, okay?" Tikki nodded, flew out of Marinette's room and off to speak with the guardian. Marinette started taking her outfit off and put her pyjamas on. Getting into bed, she fell asleep, forgetting about the small fact that no one had any clue where she was...


	5. The Race and Past Meets Present

Marinette woke up in her bed. She looked around and saw Tikki was back after leaving last night. The pigtail-hair girl moved her duvet off of her and climbed down onto the floor. She changed into her clothes and woke Tikki up. The little kwami soon started hovering in the air and Marinette spoke.

"So you made it back okay."

"Yes. Thanks for your concern."

"Your welcome, Tikki. How did things with the great guardian go?"

"Oh, he said it's time for you and Cat Noir to meet new teachers. Your predecessors." Before Tikki could say anymore, however, a familiar voice could be heard in a frustrated tone.

"Marinette?!" The voice called out and Marinette could hear footsteps approaching, causing her to gasp.

"Hide, Tikki!" As soon as Tikki hid inside Marinette's blazer, the floor door to her bedroom opened and her father Tom appeared.

"Did you have a good sleep?" Tom said as he climbed all the way through the door. Marinette was confused by her dad's question, but was save by her phone ranging. "Don't answer that, but I'm glad to know it's working." At this point, Tom was firmer in his tone. "You owe your mother an apology! Big Time!" Marinette froze as she realized that she went to bed last night without letting her parents know that she was even home. They were certainly gonna ask how she got in the house without them seeing her. "Take some responsibility. Get downstairs and apologize." Marinette wasn't gonna say anything to her dad. She'd had a taste of his authority once when she accused her classmates of stealing Chloé's bracelet. She did not want to think about how he was going to punish her for giving him and her mom a heart attack. Marinette walked down the stairs, her eyes gazing to her feet in shame. When she reached the bottom, she pulled her head up to see her mother Sabine sat at the breakfast bar. Marinette felt like she was about to cry.

"Mom, I'm so sorry for not telling you I was back."

"We all make mistakes, Marinette." Sabine responded.

"Mistakes that don't make our loved ones panic throughout the night." Tom retorted before speaking to Marinette. "Myself and your mother, my wife didn't know you were missing until Alya and that Liam boy came back here to ask us if we'd seen you. We were staying awake until you came back and we were told you were missing. We phoned every one of your friends and not one of them had seen you. We went searching for you and came back to find you fast asleep. That's a pretty big mistake, Marinette!"

"I'm sorry, dad." Marinette said, her voice trembling. Tom saw what he was doing and was disgusted with himself.

"Oh. I'm sorry too, Marinette." Tom knelt down to Marinette's level. "I shouldn't have spoken to you in that tone. It's just that I was terrified that something bad had happened to you. We both were." Tom looked over at Sabine, who approached Marinette as well.

"We can't bear the thought of anything happening to you. And while it's good you've apologized, that won't be enough Marinette. You're grounded for 2 weeks and that takes effect today. That means after school, you come straight home." Marinette nodded. "Okay. Go and get your bag and go to school." Marinette walked back up the stairs and Tom got up off the floor and he and Sabine looked at each other with looks of worry. Marinette came back down, bid her parents goodbye and left for school...

When Marinette arrived in class, the only two students not already there were Chloé and Alya. Liam walked over to Marinette.

"How come..." The new boy asked. "Out of all the things you could've done last night, you decided to go home and get some sleep?"

"I thought you were injured too, but my mom and dad said you were with Alya and Lila." Marinette answered.

"I went looking for help. I would've called the Police, but my phone got trashed. Next thing I know, this huge purple light whooshes past me and my injuries are fully healed, so I ran back and Félix stopped by me in the car. Said it was Ladybug, Cat Noir and some new superhero. Félix, Alya and Lila found me, so we tried to find you."

Marinette fell for Liam's lie, he did not give any indication that he was lying and his story checked out in her eyes. "It's actually a blur to me." Marinette lied. "I blacked out somewhere and next thing, I'm home in bed. Wait, did you say new superhero?"

"Yeah. According to Alya, he can fly. Though I get the feeling people are gonna be skeptical about him, just as they were with Ladybug and Cat Noir." Before the two could continue though, Miss Bustier came into the class, shortly after Alya and Chloé.

"Alright, Class." Miss Bustier said. "Get to your seats. We're finishing our lesson on the book Frankenstein. And Liam you left your"

Chloé decided to joke to Sabrina. "Doesn't Ivan know that Halloween's over? He still looks just like that monster Frankenstein. Oh, wait. That's how he normally looks!" The two girls snickered, but their comment did not go unheard.

"Chloé, for real?" Liam said, grabbing the attention of the class. "First off, No one in the class looks **anything** like Frankenstein's Monster and you're just being a bully at this point. Second, the monster doesn't actually have a proper name. Frankenstein's the name of the doctor. Victor Von Frankenstein." Liam then looked around, noticing the entire class looking at him. "I'm just trying to defend Ivan."

"From what exactly? I didn't say anything." Chloé tried to defend herself, not realizing that Liam wasn't the only one who heard her.

"You're a liar, Chloé." Alix grunted. "I heard you say that. Do you see anyone else bullying the class? No. Because we're mature and know when to keep our comments to ourselves. You, on other hand, would rather make others feel bad about themselves so that you can feel good about yourself, and that is just sad." Alix sat down in her seat, earning an applause from some of the students.

"Alright. That'll do, now sit down." Miss Bustier firm in their tone. The rest of the day was normal, and the time eventually came for Alix and Liam's race.

Marinette couldn't attend due to being grounded. Alya promised to film the race for her. Alix and Liam both went home to prepare for the race in case they lost. Liam had packed a backpack with a bath towel, a vest and some deodorant, and Alix took some mouthwash. They made their own ways to the Trocadero where Alix once raced Kim. The two were greeted with their friends, with Chloé and Sabrina being absent,. Liam had took his back and asked Adrien to keep hold of it, which Adrien answered yes. Max walked into the middle of the course and went over the rules as the racers warmed up.

"The race will be ten laps. You will go around the Jardins du Trocadéro. Alix will be on her skates and Liam will be on foot. Whoever crosses the line first will win. If that's Liam, then Alix has to do one embarrassing thing that Liam tells her. If Alix is faster, Liam has to strip to his underwear and jump into the sea. Are the racers ready?"

"Ready!" Liam and Alix shouted in unison.

"On your marks... Get Set... GOOOOO!"

Liam and Alix set off like cars on a race track. Alix was ahead at first, but Liam's stature assured that he would pass Alix and finish the first lap. From the second to ninth lap, the two were neck in neck. But all nine laps had been leading up to the one that would declare a winner. Liam had a head start, but he was sand in a desert at this point.

'I think I'll jump in the sea even if I win.' Liam thought to himself. He soon snapped out of his thoughts when Alix passed him and Max, becoming the winner. The class cheered for Alix and Liam congratulated her. "Well Done. Though I'd have jumped even if I'd won. Time to reveal why you brought mouthwash, Alix."

Alix groaned. "The reason I brought mouth wash with me is because Liam told me that if he won, I had to kiss Kim for 5 seconds." The group gasped.

"Well, you sure dodged a bullet. Let's go and do this then."

Everyone reached the bridge. The plan was that Liam would jump whilst the class filmed him on the bridge, except for Nino and Adrien, who would go down to the port to meet Liam when he swam to shore. Adrien gave Liam his backpack and Liam took off his upper body clothes. He then placed them in his backpack and put his vest on. He also took his shoes off, revealing swimming socks.

"Don't tell me." Alix thought out load. Liam smiled as he took off his trousers, which shows that he was wearing his swimming shorts the whole time.

"I like to be prepared." Liam responded. He placed his trousers in his backpack, sealed it shut and gave it to Adrien who, with Nino, headed down to where Liam would swim to. Alya started filming as Liam climbed onto the bridge and turned to face the group. "Alya, I need you to promise me that after you show this to Marinette, you'll delete footage." Alya nodded and Liam stood up. Let's see if anyone understands this quotes. Are you there, God? It's me, Margaret!" With that, Liam jumped, performing a backward somersault and hitting the water. About 3 seconds later, he emerged, coughing from the water he accidentally swallowed, and swam to Nino and Adrien. When he reached them, they quickly pulled him out and gave him his towel. Liam turned to wave at the group, still on the bridge. Liam started drying himself as best he could and quickly redressed himself as the group started to walk to meet him. By the time the group met up with him, he was getting his t-shirt back on and scraping his hair with his towel. Alix, Alya, and Juleka spoke to him.

"You actually did it." Alix said.

"That was insane!" Alya shouted. "Wait till Marinette sees this."

"You were just awesome." Juleka said.

"Thanks, girls." Liam fully packed his backpack. "I'd love to talk about it with everyone, but we should go. I think we just broke the law and Chloé's probably grassed us." Liam ran up the stairs leading to the streets. As soon as he was clear, his phone rang from his backpack. He answered the call... from Félix.

"Félix, what's up?"

 _"The great guardian says it's time to teach Ladybug and Cat Noir to hone their skills. Convince Adrien to come here and I'll teach him my techniques. Marinette's probably meeting her teacher as we speak."_

* * *

Marinette was in her living room playing on her games console with her father, whilst her mother was out of the house. Her parents did ground her, but they wouldn't keep her in her bedroom all that time. When the doorbell rang, Marinette paused the game and went to answer the door. When it opened, there was a tall woman whose outfit was similar to Marinette's except for her pants being blue and not rolled up, her jacket being black, her t-shirt having no symbols or imagery and finally her hair being brown and tied in a bun. Marinette knew this woman immediately.

"Aunt Bridgette?!" Marinette shouted with glee, causing Tom to stand up too quick and have a dizzy spell. He soon recovered and spoke to Bridgette.

"Bridgette! Come in."

"Thanks, Tom." Bridgette answered.

"Would you like a cup of tea?"

"Yeah, please. Can Marinette and I talk in her bedroom?"

"Yeah." Marinette and Bridgette walked up to Marinette's bedroom, and Bridgette locked the door behind them.

"So, Aunt Bridgette." Marinette asked. "What brings you here? Did you miss dad?"

"Marinette, I really missed my brother. But, the main reason I'm here is cos of you... Ladybug."

Marinette gasped. "What are you...?"

"You don't have to deny it. You see, when you became Ladybug, you took the mantle I left behind."

Marinette was stunned "Yo-yo-yo-yo-You..." Marinette was struggling to speak when Tikki came out of Marinette's blazer.

"Were Ladybug." The kwami said. "Bridgette, I can't believe you're here."

"Hello, Tikki. It's been so long."

"What is it that has to do with Ladybug?"

"Ladybug and Cat Noir need to hone their skills. I've been sent by the guardian to train you. Just as my former partner will train Cat Noir. We've been searching for Hawk Moth ever since he showed his face again. And by the time we find him, you'll be more than ready to bring him to justice..."


	6. Bonding and Building Trust

"Marinette, Bridgette!" Tom called out to the two Ladybugs. "Tea's ready." Marinette and Bridgette walked back down into the living room and Tom gave each of them a cup of tea. The three of sat down and spoke to Bridgette. "So, Bridgette, still doing rounds with the fire service?"

"Yeah, for some reason…" Bridgette turned to Marinette. "I just can't seem to stop saving lives." Marinette chuckled at her aunt's tongue-in-cheek comment.

"Still with Detective Hawk Eye?"

Bridgette took a sip of her tea. "Félix? Yeah, I'm still with him. 23 years, how the time flies."

"Wait, Félix?" Marinette asked, remembering that Bridgette once told her about Liam and that she once dated his brother. "Just out of curiosity, does he have a brother named Li…?

"Liam. They both came here looking for you last night. In fact, Tom, I'm surprised you didn't see Félix driving the car."

"We only spoke to Alya and Liam. They were here because Marinette had gone missing."

"Liam and Félix told me everything. I can't believe I'm asking this, but I think Liam and Marinette can get to know each other, so how about Marinette spend the night at mine? Félix wouldn't mind, and we've got a spare bed. Plus, she'll never sneak out before you come and get her." Marinette's jaw dropped at the suggestion.

"Well, I don't know. Marinette's got school tomorrow and we'd need to clear it with Sabine. Are you sure?"

"Cross my heart."

Tom had a conflicted look on his face. "Okay. You have my approval, but if Sabine disagrees, then it's off. Go and pack." Marinette went upstairs and packed for an overnight stay at Bridgette's. Tom phoned Sabine to get permission. Thankfully, she agreed to let Marinette stay at Bridgette's and Marinette said goodbye to her dad for the night. Bridgette said goodbye to her brother and the two girls walked out of the bakery. Bridgette walked over to the same car that Félix drove last night, which held the obvious fact that Félix was driving the car now. Marinette got in the back seat and Bridgette got in the front passenger seat. Before Tom could come out and wave goodbye, Félix drove off down the street. When the car stopped at a red light after an approximate 8 minutes, Félix spoke to Marinette.

"So, you're the new Ladybug? You did good last night. Thanks for saving our skin."

"Errr..." Marinette responded. "Your welcome? I get the feeling that this isn't just gonna be a sleepover."

"It's training from your predecessors. Bridgette will train you and I'll train Cat Noir."

"Cat Noir? He's coming too?! Wait, we can't see each other out of costume!"

"You won't. He's not staying overnight. And you two don't get to see each other until you're in costume."

Bridgette stepped in. "Plus, what's the problem with you knowing each other's identities? When we revealed our identities to each other, it built trust between us."

"And revealed we were trying to capture each other's hearts without even knowing it." Félix changed the subject to training grounds. "Now we've got a reasonably big space for training. It's underground in our house, so no one would see or hear you, you just have to transform inside in a separate room from Cat Noir." Félix pulled up on a street road and Marinette looked out of her car window. The house they pulled up at was detached from any other house on the street. It seemed to have two bedrooms, a large living room and a dining room at the front. There was even a window on the roof. Marinette got out of the car and looked at the front door. It was ever so slightly open. "Liam and Cat Noir must already be here." The three of them walked into the house and Marinette thought it was more like a mansion.

Bridgette closed the mansion door behind her and went upstairs as it sounded like that was were Cat Noir was waiting. The hallway that spaced the left side of the house from the right had one portrait on each wall. On the right, the portrait was of Félix, Bridgette and Liam in what seemed to be black suits. They looked younger and Liam looked like a 9-year-old.

The portrait on the left, however, is what caught Marinette's eye. The picture was like a class photo. From left to right, the picture had Félix, a black haired boy whose muscle looked like he could give Kim a run for his money, Bridgette, one blonde girl that Marinette felt familiar with, another blonde girl that Marinette did not recognise, a dark skinned boy with short hair and another boy with ginger hair, sunglasses and no attempt at a smile, and finally and blonde boy who was wearing some kind of mask. Félix was wearing an outfit identical to what he was currently wearing. He was smiling, but Marinette could tell that the smile was fake. Bridgette was also wearing a similar outfit to her current one. The biggest change was her hair. It was styled similar to Marinette's, except the pigtails were more like horse tails that reached her ribs in length. Then, there were the strangers. One of the blonde girls looked like Adrien's mother, Marinette caught on after remembering the photo of Adrien's mother in the mansion at Christmas. The other blonde girl had a braided ponytail and tan skin. Marinette had no clue who this was, nor did she know who any of the others were. Félix saw Marinette staring at the photo and disrupted her train of thought.

"Transform and after the training session, I'll explain who they are." Marinette had the same look on her face from when she gave Tiki's book to Master Fu. Marinette smiled and said the transformation words to become Ladybug. When she transformed, Félix led her down a secret stair case in a cupboard under the main stairs.

'Feels like I'm about to find some dead bodies down here.' Ladybug thought to herself. She walked down and some bright lights came on. Ladybug didn't find any bodies, but she did find that when Félix said big, he meant the size of a sports hall. She was stunned and all she could say is 'Wow!'

"This is huge!" A voice exclaimed, startling Ladybug and making her jump and turn to find that it was Cat Noir, with Liam behind him. "Sorry. Didn't mean to make you jump, M'lady."

"That's alright, Cat Noir. I'm just shocked."

Cat Noir and Ladybug admired the view, but something popped into Cat Noir's head. "How are we gonna be trained anyway?"

Liam stepped in. "Félix and Bridgette will show you some fighting techniques, you'll then learn how to use them on an opponent. I actually need to go and get him. I'll leave yous to it." With that, Liam went back up the stairs and Bridgette came down. The four of them grouped at the center of the hall, and Bridgette spoke.

"Let's get started. Ladybug, here's a technique for combat." Bridgette started mimicking the moves she was talking about. "You use that yo-yo and throw it towards your opponent. You aim to their left, and when the yo-yo is fully out, move your arm to their right and if you do it correctly, the string will wrap around them, then you can pull slightly and trip them, allowing you to capture the akuma. Think you can try it?" While Bridgette was discussing this, the four superheroes were unaware of someone watching them in the rails above them. Cat Noir answered for Ladybug.

"M'lady, I'm sure you'll do it with, no PAW-blem." Everyone cringed and then the figure struck, jumping down from the railing, giving Cat Noir a shock of what looked like yellow electricity and seemingly freezing him in place. Ladybug acted on instinct and threw her yo-yo at the figure, wrapping him in the string, then yanked the string back hard enough for the figure to go flying towards her. When he was close enough, Ladybug decked him, sending him to land on his back. He didn't land himself though, because Ladybug had stabbed him in his chest with her elbow and put him to the ground. It wasn't until the figure was on the ground that everyone saw that the figure was the new super, The Hornet. Ladybug gasped at how much pain she'd just inflicted on him and felt sick to the stomach that she was happy with hurting him because of his attack on Cat Noir. The heroine looked at her hands in disgust. Bridgette saw that she was distressed and quickly hugged her from behind.

"It's okay. He was expecting it. He's meant to attack you and Cat Noir so that you could think of counter attacks on the spot. Plus, he wasn't supposed to do a surprise attack, so this serves him right." Bridgette looked at Marinette. "You alright?" Ladybug nodded. Hornet came around and looked around. At the same time, Cat Noir was freed from his frozen state. He could see that Ladybug was upset with herself. Hornet looked at Ladybug, and spoke in his distorted voice.

"Okay, I did deserve that. But think about this: If I actually was trying steal your Miraculouses, I wouldn't be able to after that, would I? And imagine if I was trying to kill you? The message is don't hold back. Cos your enemy won't." Ladybug inhaled deeply, then exhaled.

"I can see where you're coming from. It's just... I didn't know I had THAT in me!"

"We're all full of surprises." Hornet responded. "Untie me and I'll give you a surprise." Ladybug removed the yo-yo from around the Hornet and the newcomer walked to her and whispered into her ear. "I know you... Marinette." Ladybug stepped back and looked in shock that the Hornet knew who she was under her mask. Hornet went over to Cat Noir and whispered in his ear. "You are Adrien Agreste." Hornet then stepped back and spoke out loud to both of them. "I've just revealed to the two of you that I know who you are, but I will not reveal your identities to each other cos that's your decision to make. Since I know your identities..." Hornet grabbed above his neck and pulled his mask over his head to show his real identity. "It's only fair that you know mine." Ladybug and Cat Noir stared in awe. Bridgette looked on since she didn't know what to think. Félix looked at Liam with a facial expression that screamed 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!'.

"Liam Rejeter." Cat Noir and Ladybug said at the same time.

"Yes."

"Why would you do that?" Ladybug asked.

"To try and build trust between us. You need me to keep your identities secret - which I will, so I now need you to keep mine a secret."

"Why were you being a bit mean when we took down Volpina?" Cat Noir questioned.

"All my life, I've been seen as the rich kid who likes to be nice and not get revenge on people. That's kind of the real me, but I put on a different attitude to keep Liam Rejeter separate from the Hornet. I know for sure that you two are nothing like your civilian identities." Ladybug and Cat Noir smiled awkwardly, feeling a bit of discomfort that Liam just dropped the knowledge of knowing their identities.

Félix interrupted the trio. "It's great to build trust and all, but the best way to do that is in the field. So let's keep practising skills and then we can figure out how to find Hawk Moth."

Liam put his mask on again and the three began training. 3 hours later, the trio were worn down from their training and Cat Noir had to leave for his civilian life, so he went to the roof of the house and jumped from rooftop to rooftop.

Meanwhile, Ladybug and Hornet were getting ready to rest up for the night, Ladybug had gone to the guest bedroom and transformed back to Marinette and Hornet transformed back by pressing a yellow hourglass symbol on his left wrist. When the two met in the hallway, Marinette needed to ask Liam something.

"How did you find out who Cat Noir and I were?"

"I found out you were Ladybug by tricking Bridgette. I regret doing that now, and Cat Noir... I found out who he was when I once visited him in his civilian form and his kwami shot itself at me."

"Huh. You're not gonna tell Cat Noir who I am?"

"No. But I'm not gonna tell you who he is either. If you want to know who he is, you can just ask him, but be ready to tell him who you are if he asks you as well."

Marinette was in a train of thought when Bridgette shouted the two teens down.

"Marinette, Liam. Would you like to come down and watch a DVD?"

"Yeah, okay." Liam replied.

Marinette thought before answering. "Yeah, that'll be fun!" The two made their way downstairs as Bridgette was looking through DVDs to watch.

"We got a few here," Bridgette said. "we got all five Spider-Man movies, Cars 2, Transformers, all seven Star Wars. Take your pick."

"I feel like watching Cars 2." Liam answered.

"Erm, sure." Marinette said, "I've only seen the fisrt one anyway."

As the four settled to watch the Pixar film, Cat Noir made his way to his mansion. Just in the bushes in the garden, he transformed back into Adrien. He soon escaped the bushes and found himself in the main walkway. He hadn't realised how long he'd been gone. The boy could only think about what his father would say. He didn't need to think anymore...

"ADRIEN AGRESTE!" A voice said loud enough to damage eardrums.

Knowing how angry his father was at Christmas when he ran away, the only thing Adrien was thinking now was who he wanted at his funeral...


	7. Adrien's Dilemma and A New Plan

Adrien walked into his mansion. Externally, he was calm. Internally, he was terrified. At the top of the stairs, Gabriel Agreste was waiting. Sneaking up behind Adrien was his bodyguard and to his left was Gabriel's secretary, Nathalie.

"Where have you been, Adrien?" The Agreste father asked, subtly showing his anger.

Adrien was thinking of his answer. What was he going to say? If he ratted out Liam, Gabriel would go to his house and have Félix arrested for kidnapping. Rather than grass them up, he bent the truth. "I've been to watch a race between two of my class mates, then I went to a gym to do some training to protect myself from those dangers you warn me about." Adrien then whispered under his breath, "Even though they're non-existent."

"Really, now? Who's your tutor in these lessons? Mr. D'Argencourt?"

"N-no. It's someone else, he... was recommended by a friend."

"Which friend? That Nino?"

"No." Adrien tried to stop his father.

"Why didn't you call?!"

"I got caught up in the excitement of the race, I forgot."

"You missed an entire photoshoot, we've fallen behind schedule!"

"That was when I went to the gym. I didn't know anything about this shoot." Adrien was always being taken to photoshoots that he didn't know were happening. He didn't like that his father did this, but he was so disconnected from his father that the two had almost nothing that implied a father/son dynamic between them. Adrien's responses just made Gabriel even angrier.

"SOMETHING BAD COULD HAVE HAPPENED TO YOU! DON'T YOU REMEMBER CHRISTMAS?! I CAN'T LOSE YOU! NOT AFTER-" Gabriel stopped after showing some emotional worry over his son. He had shown worry for Adrien at Christmas, and it seemed that Gabriel was not over his wife's disappearance.

Adrien was starting to worry. "Father, PLEASE calm down! I've heard with this level of anger, Hawk Moth can turn you into a villain."

Gabriel lowered his voice, but was still angry at his son. He decided to issue Adrien with an ultimatum. "I can't have you wandering off from that school whenever you feel like it to go and have unauthorized lessons on how to protect yourself, especially when you can be taught here." Gabriel took a moment of silence. "There's a boarding school in Norway run by a retired Drill Sergeant who knows much more than I do about rebellious boys and effective but appropriate discipline. Your choice: Be schooled here for the remainder of this school year and the following year, or you can be taught there for the rest of your educational years. Either way, one thing I can tell you now: You are not going back to that school." Adrien froze in horror.

"Father!" The boy said.

"You can go back for the remainder of the week to inform your friends and say your goodbyes. As awful as you think I am, I am not heartless."

Adrien could only accept his father's decision and be grateful that he didn't take him from society instantly. "Thank You, Father." Adrien went up to his bedroom without saying a word.

* * *

As Adrien wallowed about his fate, Marinette, Liam, Bridgette and Félix were getting ready to settle down and watch Cars 2.

Bridgette and Félix were in the kitchen making hot chocolate and and popcorn in a bowl. Marinette and Liam were each laying a quilt on the two couches in the living room. Marinette had changed into Ladybug themed pajamas and Liam was wearing black pajamas with white writing on the torso: 'If you're a metalhead, would your skull implode if I put a magnet in your mouth?' Marinette looked at the question then gave Liam a confused look. Liam responded to Marinette's unasked question.

"They weren't mine originally. Got from one of Félix's friends. Jason, I think it was."

"Yeah, it was." Bridgette answered as she walked in with hot chocolate. "We were both friends with him. He's the black-haired boy in that portrait you saw."

"Oh, yeah." Marinette said. "Félix said he would explain who those people were." Félix came in with the popcorn and spoke about the portrait. "I forgot I said that. I'll tell you about it another time."

"OK." Marinette answered. Bridgette set up the DVD player and inserted the disc. After skipping through the trailers, Bridgette pressed play and the four starting watching Cars 2. Marinette and Liam were wrapped in the quilt on the couch to the right of the TV with their eyes were glued to the screen and even Tikki had sat on the the arm of the couch eating some of the popcorn. As the movie finished, Liam felt the need to inform Marinette about akumas.

"Marinette, about purifying akumas, you do know that even when you purify them, they just go back to Hawk Moth?"

"What?!" Marinette said, startling Félix and Bridgette. "How would you know that?"

Bridgette asked. "Know what?"

"Liam said that any akumas go back to Hawk Moth, even if I purify them."

"They did when I was Ladybug. It seems that they'd do the same thing assuming that this Hawk Moth is the same guy as our Hawk Moth."

"Your Hawk Moth?" Marinette asked. Félix placed his hand on Bridgette's shoulder and stepped in.

"When we were Ladybug and Cat Noir, Hawk Moth was our ally." Marinette gasped. "Those people you saw in that portrait, they were our team of heroes. We called ourselves the Quantic Kids. The guy with the mask in the portrait is Hawk Moth. His real name... George Erickson."

Marinette froze from shock. She now knew the identity of her nemesis. "George Erickson. So now he has a name. And unfortunately, unlimited akumas if they just go back to him."

Liam suddenly came to a realisation. "Marinette, if they do go back to him, then they can lead us to him! We place a tracker on one and wait till it stops, we got him!"

Marinette gasped in surprise, but Bridgette and Félix quickly burst their bubble.

"Okay, calm down before you wake any neighbours." Félix said.

"Plus, you're getting ahead of yourselves." Bridgette added. "You don't if that'll work and also, exactly how are you going to find an akuma?"

Liam and Marinette looked at Bridgette, then at each other and back to Bridgette. Liam calmly said his idea.

"We could cause a victim. It would be doing the wrong thing for the right reasons."

"That's out of the question, Liam." Marinette retaliated. "We do not cause the problems, we come up with the solution."

"Sorry, Mari. I shouldn't have suggested it. No offense, but you do realise that if there were medals for most causes of villains, you'd get the silver." Marinette was shocked as she came to realise that she caused a lot of akuma attacks. In fact, the only person who caused more than she did was Chloe. Liam could see that she was upset by his statement. "I'm sorry, Marinette. I'm in no place to criticise you for that when I caused Lila's akuma yesterday. Talk about getting off on the wrong foot." Liam snickered. Marinette snickered as well. Then Liam came to another answer. "We could let the gold medalist cause one. Heck, play our cards right, we might be able to place a tracker on the akuma before it even corrupts its victim."

"The akuma won't retreat to Hawk Moth unless it's defeated." Bridgette said. "But still, that could work!"

Félix spoke up. "The only one who could have a tracker for an akuma is..." The blonde stopped. "I'll give him a call. In the meantime, you two better get upstairs and off to sleep before I put you to sleep." Liam and Marinette got up and Liam took the quilt that he and Marinette had used and went upstairs to lay it on his bed. Marinette took the quilt that Félix and Bridgette used and went and laid it on her bed. Liam was in the bathroom finishing up on brushing his teeth when Marinette came up with her quilt.

"Do you always brush your teeth with the door open?" Marinette asked.

"At least I'm not on the toilet." Liam retaliated. Rinsing his toothbrush, Liam closed the cabinet on the wall and walked into his bedroom. "Goodnight." Liam said as he closed the door.

"Goodnight." Marinetta replied. She went into the guest room, which included a single bed, a TV on some chester drawers. The bed had pillows matching the quilt and a headboard. There was a radiator placed underneath the window. The window showed the back garden, which was difficult to see due to the darkness. Tikki came into the room and spoke.

"Wow, this is even better than when I was with Bridgette."

"How long have you known Bridgette?"

"20 years or so. She and Félix were in the same situation as you, Adrien and Cat Noir. Bridgette was Ladybug, Félix was Cat Noir, Bridgette liked Félix, Félix rejected Bridgette, Félix liked Ladybug, Ladybug rejected Cat Noir."

Marinette answered with "Crazy." before settling down in the bed and going to sleep.

* * *

The following morning, Marinette woke up in the guest room in Liam's house, she checked the clock hanging on the wall. 6:55. Marinette had never been up so early. She quickly got up and changed into the clothes she had packed. As soon as she was done changing, there was a knock on the bedroom door. The doorknob turned and in walked Bridgette.

"Morning, Marinette." Ladybug No. 1 said.

"Morning, Aunt Bridgette." Ladybug No. 2 answered. "Are Félix and Liam awake?"

"They've both left already. Félix got called to investigate a break-in and... that's just Liam. He's always trying to leave without us seeing, doing the things that are normally left for parents. Seriously, go and check his bedroom, you'd think it was clean enough to be a five-star hotel room." Bridgette checked her wristwatch. "At this time, he's probably at the park."

"Why would Liam be at the park?"

"His old school friends hang out there. Craig, Wilson and Michael. They like to play a bit of Football. Even Liam's former friendship with Chloé couldn't break their bond."

"The friendship that crumble after she closed down his after school club because they kicked her out?"

"He's told you, then. Anyway, you've got plenty of time before you gotta go to school. Do you want some breakfast?"

"Just some toast, please."

"Okay. Tikki, I've also got some cookies for you."

"Thank You, Bridgette." The Kwami said.

"I'll make the toast, and then you can make your way to school. Also, we've got the trackers for the akuma. Liam left before we could give him them. Could you give them to him when you get to school?"

"Yeah. I actually feel excited... and panicked! We could stop Hawk Moth once and for all today!"

"He has a lot to answer for, but what do you want to know right away?"

"Why come out of hiding after years of nothing? What caused him to turn to villainy? I mean if he was a member of the Quantic Kids, that must mean that he was once a hero? And how could he be cruel enough to ensnare a child in his ambitions?"

"We'll cross that bridge later. Now, let's go and have some toast."

Marinette, Bridgette and Tikki went downstairs and had breakfast, before Marinette and Tikki said goodbye to Bridgette and left for school at 7:10 with the trackers for the akuma. Marinette arrived at school at 8:15. Nearly all of her classmates were waiting, except for Adrien and Liam. Alya ran over to her.

"Girl!" Alya shouted in her BFF's ear. "Can't believe you're early! You ready to see Liam's race?"

"Spoilers!" Alix shouted. "He lost! It's his punishment you should watch!"

Alya played the video of Liam's jump to Marinette.

 _"I like to be prepared."_ Liam said on the video. _"Alya, I need to to promise me that after you show this to Marinette, you'll delete the footage."_

Alya skipped to Liam's jump. "I did promise him."

In the video, Liam did the jump and Marinette was shocked.

"I can't believe he did that!" Marinette gasped.

"He sure knows how to entertain." Alya said.

"Yeah, but if he's trying to be subtle about this, he probably shouldn't be cheering proudly after jumping off a bridge that people can drive across."

"Thanks for the tip." Liam said behind Marinette and Alya, causing the two to scream in surprise. Liam's outfit had changed. Today he was wearing a cotton outfit consisting of a jacket that was white on the chest, upper and shoulders and black on the lower arms, except for white flames with sapphire blue thread outlines on the sleeves and black on the torso with blue curves to show the pockets. The trousers were blue on the waistline, black from the waistline to the bottom of the calves, where the white and blue flames were present. Liam laughed at their reaction.

"You have a bit of a bad side, don't you?" Alya asked.

"Don't we all?" Liam answered. "Surely you've wanted to do something bad with no regard of the consequences."

"Yeah, actually. Nice outfit."

"Thanks." Liam winked at Marinette then went over to the rest of the class and spoke to Alix.

"I never congratulated you on winning."

"You don't need to." Alix answered. "On another note, there's a lacrosse match this afternoon in the hall. You should sign up for it."

"No, thanks. I prefer the good ol' fashioned football. Just played a game with some friends."

"How come we don't see these friends?"

"They're from a previous school. I should introduce you to them one day."

As Alix and Liam were talking, Adrien's limo pulled up and the model got out, looking glum and easily seen by his classmates. Nino and Liam walked over to greet him as the limo drove off.

"Whoa, dude!" Nino said. "You look like you've been told you're not allowed here anymore!"

Adrien looked at Nino. "I have. My father's given me the rest of the week. And then I'm homeschooled. If I refuse, then it's off to Norway."

"WHAT?!" Liam shouted. "That son-of-a...!"

"Liam, don't work yourself up!"

"Dude." Nino defended. "Your old man is controlling you. This sounds like something you don't want to do."

"What can I do? He's my father."

"Tell him that you don't wanna go! Send him the message that if he keeps pushing you, you'll push back! And Liam, go inside, calm down. You'll do more harm than good if you do anything out of anger!" Liam walked away. "I'm not gonna lie: 1. I never thought he could have that kind of anger and 2. I'm as angry as he is. I'm just calming myself down cos I don't want have The Bubbler go crazy again."

"Thanks for being honest, Nino."

"It's alright. I'd come and help you with him, but he'd probably get your guard to throw me out. Literally."

"You do know you're allowed in the mansion again? Remember christmas?"

"Oh, yeah. Then I'll come and help you. Liam might want to help you, as well."

"We'll see..."


	8. Another Akuma

That afternoon, there was a lacrosse tryout match in the main hall. Adrien, Alix, Ivan and Kim were on one team, with their uniform being red. Their opposing team was wearing blue. Alya, Marinette, Chloé and Liam were observing when Marinette stealthily gave Liam the trackers while Chloé and Alya were watching the match. Liam then nodded at Marinette and went to the school library.

"You know..." Alya said to Marinette. "When they win, you should offer to treat him to ice cream."

"Why would I treat Liam to ice cream? Oh, you were on about Adrien!"

"Is there... something there between you and Liam? I heard you stayed at his last night."

"Ah! Sorry. Turns out my aunt Bridgette is dating Liam's brother from the party. She invited me over. You know, they act more like Liam's parents."

"So, Adrien and Ice Cream?"

"I-i-i-i couldn't. He's just too amazing!"

"Maybe Liam can help you control yourself around him."

"Go, Adrikins!" Chloé cheered.

Adrien ran towards his opponent's goal net with the ball. An opponent player got to Adrien's side and tried to trip him up. This act did not go unnoticed by the referee, who blew his whistle.

"Foul! 3 minute penalty!"

"WHAT?!" The player said. His teammates then began teasing him.

"Real smooth, Adam!"

"It's supposed to be 10 of them against 10 0f us. With you it's like 11 of them vs 9 of us!"

Adam threw his lacrosse to the ground and stormed outside.

"Oi." The coach shouted to Adam's teammates. "We'll have none of that! Teamwork requires respect! Get that in your head or you'll be cut from the team!"

From the sidelines, Chloé was aggravated by Adam.

"I can't believe him! I'm going to have a word with that brat for hurting my Adrikins!" Chloé chased after Adam.

Meanwhile, in the library. Liam was sat at a table reading a book on how to use music production software when Nathanael walked by and tripped, dropping his folder and scattering his drawings. Liam got up and helped him up.

"Aw, thanks!" Nathanael said.

"Don't mention it." Liam answered. Liam bent down to see the drawings Nathanael had done. He had drawn their classmates in their akuma forms, though redesigned. The first two he saw were of Reflekta and Princess Fragrance. Reflekta had Juleka's hair, no neck piece, and no eye shapes on her skirt. She was also wearing gloves that matched her outfit, which was red as opposed to pink. Her arms were visible and were as white as her face. Princess Fragrance had pretty much the same outfit as the real one, but her skin was normal instead of green, the same with her eyes and hair, both were Rose's natural blonde and blue. The black mask around her eyes had been replaced by a respirator, which had green tinted glass over it from the nose bridge to the outside of the circle were the breathing tube was.

Nathanael was picking up his sketches of other villains when he noticed Liam gazing at his drawings. Panicked, he snatched them from the president's son.

"Weren't you taught not in invade other people's privacy?"

"Sorry, Nathanael. But I have to say, those are ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff friggin amazing!"

Nathanael was taken aback by Liam's comment. "You really think so?"

"Yeah. Not only the designs themselves, but the positioning of the villains, their poses, the colours, the lighting, hell the pencilling tops it all. These truly are spectacles. I don't know if you ever wanted to get into them, but you really deserve a chance at comics."

"No one's ever said that about my artwork. The only comments I've ever received was when Chloé insulted them in science class."

Liam smirked. "Chloé knows nothing about art. Or fashion, she looks like a banana wearing a striped burglar top." Nathanael giggled.

"Can't wait to see you stand up to her."

Liam smiled, but then hissed. "I do apologize, but if I was there, I would've called you out. Not for the bad artwork, again it's amazing, but for drawing during a science class. I don't know how you feel in those classes, they might be boring, but paying attention will do you good in the long. Maybe you'll learn how ink for pens is produced."

"Huh. Ya know? You seem to be Chloé if she was a good person. You don't back down, you only push if someone pushes you first. You admit when you've done something wrong. I think you're gonna make friends fast here."

Liam smiled. "Looks like I've made my second one."

Nathanael looked at Liam. "You mean me?"

"No. I mean Kim. Of course I mean you. Alix was the first. I've spoken to Marinette, Alya, Rose, Juleka and Adrien, but we're not really on the friends level yet." Liam and Nathanael's chat was cut short by screaming in the hall. The boys opened the door and saw what looked like an Akuma villain. Blue skin, blue sports outfit and helmet with a yellow visor. Nathanael started to worry.

"L-let's go back in the library!" Nathanael ran back into the library, but Liam just walked down to the hall.

"I am Replay." The villain said. "I challenge Adrien Agreste to a match of lacrosse!"

Liam walked to the bottom of the stairs and shouted. "Hey, Sporty Smurf!" Replay turned around to face Liam. "What's got you in a huff?"

"Do you know where Adrien Agreste is?"

Liam climbed over the barrier keeping the audience away from the match. "Bit wierd to answer a question with a question but, yeah. I know where he is."

"Tell me."

"P-p-p-p-p..." Liam said, continuing to walk towards Replay.

"Push your luck even more!" The audience gasped in fright, but Liam seemed unfazed and smacked his lips.

"I was hoping for 'Please' but okay." Alya started filming on her phone while Marinette snuck away from the audience into an empty room and opened her handbag to get Tikki out.

"Liam's gonna get himself into trouble!" Marinette stated.

"Maybe we can delay Replay until Cat Noir and the Hornet show up." Tikki responded.

"Then we have to act fast! TIKKI, SPOTS ON!" Marinette transformed into Ladybug.

Back in the hall, Liam was stalling Replay.

"Right, Adrien Agreste..." Liam said. "He fled before you showed up. Went home."

"How could he just walk off the playing field, out the door and through the streets without anyone seeing him?" Replay pointed out. The audience watched. Some teachers were jumpy. Liam could get attacked any second now.

"Okay, you got me. I snuck him out of here. If you'd like to know where I snuck him to, you'll have to earn the right. Throwdown."

Replay laughed smugly. "Throwdown? You look like you could get your butt whooped by Rose Lavillant."

Liam became straight faced. "Hey, don't go knocking Rose. Looks can be deceiving. She could be a black widow if need be."

Replay groaned before throwing a punch, which Liam dodged by bending backwards.

"Nice. You are gonna beat me."

"You might as well forfeit now before I end up killing you!" The audience jumped at Replay's threat.

"Uh, Donkey! You need me alive to find Adrien! Even so..." Liam performed a roundhouse kick to Replay's face, knocking him to the ground and stunning the audience. "...You're dead meat!" While Liam was fighting Replay, Adrien peeked his head out from the dressing room and saw what was happening. He knew exactly what to do.

"PLAGG, CLAWS OUT!" Adrien transformed into Cat Noir. The feline hero jumped out of the dressing room and down into the hall, were Liam had Replay on his back. "Thanks for softening him up, kiddo! Now let the professionals handle this!" Liam saluted and helped pull Replay back on his feet, placing on the trackers on his hand that seemed to sink into his skin.

"Congrats, Replay. You win. Truth is... I got no clue where Adrien is. I'm just pulling your leg!" Liam laughed. Replay grabbed Liam, pushed him towards a window, then aimed his watch at him. He shot him, and pressed forward on his watch, sending Liam through the window and leaving his fate unknown. Alya ran over to where he should've landed, except he wasn't there. Alya didn't have much time to think about as Ladybug had shown up to help Cat Noir.

"You can't harm students, Adam!" Ladybug said.

"I am not Adam, I am Replay!" Replay fired a shot at Ladybug, who blocked it with her yo-yo. Cat Noir charged at him, but was hit and sent into a loop of running forwards and backwards. Replay turned to Ladybug. "Your turn!" Replay aimed at Ladybug, but before he could take his shot, he felt something jabbing the back of his helmet. He turned around to see the new superhero, The Hornet. "Who are you?"

Hornet spoke in his distorted voice. "You're not gonna beat her that way!" Hornet opened his wings and hovered down to Replay's side.

"Hornet, what are you-?" Ladybug started to ask before being cut off.

"Ladybug! Come on! Let the bad guy win for once! You may have been popular when you took down Stoneheart, but the one thing these people will talk about more than your constant success is your inevitable failure. So stop being such a buzzkill." With that, Hornet winked at Ladybug. He had activated his power and was charging it. Ladybug stood down.

"Okay, I surrender." Ladybug dropped her yo-yo and put her hands up. Replay smiled.

"Well, before we take her Miraculous, Replay, how about a handshake to celebrate your victory?"

Replay held his right hand out. Hornet swung his left arm and grabbed hold, freezing Replay like he had Volpina. Replay screamed and Hornet gloated. "Wow, you're smart enough to know when you're being stalled and yet you got no clue when you're being tricked? The only thing consistent about your intelligence is how inconsistent it is. Can't blame you, though. It's down to Hawk Moth. So I take your watch is the akuma object?" Hornet took the watch off of Replay and threw it towards Ladybug. "Happy Birthday!"

Ladybug caught the watch. "You're too late for that." She responded before smashing the watch, causing the akuma to escape. "Did you-"

"Yes."

"Alright. No evil doing for you, little akuma." Ladybug opened her yo-yo and swung it round. "TIME TO DE-EVILIZE!" Ladybug caught the akuma and yanked the yo-yo back. "Gotcha!" She opened the yo-yo to let the butterfly escape. "Bye-bye, little butterfly." Remembering Hallowe'en , Ladybug threw her yo-yo into the air. "MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!" The superpower fixed all the damage caused by Replay. Cat Noir was freed from his time loop. After composing himself, he went over to his teammates.

"Well, well, well!" Cat Noir said. "You two make a good duo."

Some of the students came over to the three heroes. Alya, Nathanael and Chloé were at the forefront. Alya was still filming, Chloé was trying to get in camera with Ladybug and Nathanael was trying to speak to either Cat Noir or the Hornet.

"You've done it again, Ladybug!" Alya screamed. "And Hornet!" Alya suddenly became authoritative. "You didn't mean that about Ladybug failing, did you?!"

"Of course not!"

"And don't think about trying to replace Cat Noir. Those two are this city's Batman and Robin."

"More like Batman and Nightwing, really. Those two are equals Robin is Batman's lackey."

"Hey!" Nathanael shouted. "Has anyone checked on Adam or Liam?"

Everyone looked over at Adam, who was recounting where he was. Ladybug went over to him. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I-i think so." Adam replied. "It's just a blur."

"They all go through that. As long as you're fine."

"Didn't that red-haired kid say something about Liam?"

"Yeah, I did." Nathanael said before Alya stepped in.

"I went over to where he fell and he wasn't there!"

Hornet had to get out of there so Liam could come back. "I'll go and find him, Cat Noir, there's also Adrien Agreste that needs to be found."

"I'll take care of it." Cat Noir answered and ran out the entrance while yelling, "Cat's out the bag!"

Hornet opened his wings and flew off to change back to Liam. Ladybug did the same. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I got other work to do. Bug out!" And Ladybug threw her yo-yo and swung away. As the students stood in the hall, Mr Damocles made an announcement.

"Attention! Due the events the unfolded here, combined with the fact that there's only half an hour left before school's over, we have decided to let students go home early. Grab your belongings and head home, but please be careful and travel in pairs or groups if you can." The students began organizing to leave. "And if anyone encounters Adrien Agreste or Liam Rejeter, please notify their parents so that they can notify us." At that point, Adrien came back through the entrance, still wearing his lacrosse gear.

"Did I miss anything?" He asked.

"We're going home early." Alya answered. At that point, Marinette emerged from the science classroom and Liam came through the entrance as well.

"That Hornet." Liam said. "He found me passed out in the alley near Marinette's bakery, tells me that people are looking for me here, and he buggers off! Doesn't think to help me back here. I was dazed for about 5 minutes. Some hero! Anyway, what's going-?"

"We're going home early!" Alya cut him off.

"Oh, okay. Well, actually I'm off with Adrien and Nino. See yous there?"

"We're coming now." Adrien said. " Just let me grab my stuff."

"Sure."

The students began leaving the school. Some students wanted to forget the events, while others bombarded Liam while he was waiting for Adrien.

"How were able to do that?! You're so brave! Can you teach me that?!" Liam just got bombarded and Nino was not helping.

"That was sick!"

"And I'm sick of the questions! Can I PLEASE wait for Adrien in peace?" Liam's pleas were heard by Alix and Nathanael.

"He just fought an akuma without any powers." Nathanael said. "I think he should be allowed some peace."

"Yeah, so beat it!" Alix threatened. "Or you'll get a demonstration up front!" The students quickly fled and Liam was left with Nino, Alix and Nathanael.

"Thanks, guys. Glad I've made some friends."

"Hey. don't mention it."

"Yeah." Nathanael said. "I'm quite surprised that doesn't happen all the time. You ARE the president's son after all."

"He prefers to let me be free, independent and make my own mistakes. I actually live with my brother and his girlfriend, and they don't even notice I'm there."

"Oh." Alix said. "That's just sad. I'm sorry for ya."

"They don't notice me because I do what I need to do and then leave before they realise I'm there. Told you I was independent."

"So..." Nathanael said. "Not only are you the good Chloé, but you're also the opposite of Juleka. You prefer not to be seen."

"You know, Nathan. (If I can call you that) You seem to be a bit like Juleka. I try and speak to the either one o' yous and you both stumble over your words."

Nathan chuckled awkwardly. Adrien had come out in his normal clothing. His bodyguard had shown up in his limousine to take him home. Adrien walked to the car door and he called Liam over. Liam went to get in the limo when the bodyguard grabbed him and pinned him down. Adrien was shocked.

"Whoa! Let him go and let him in the car. That guy helped me out a lot today, so he's free to join me. Got it?" The bodyguard released Liam and Liam got in the limo with Adrien.

"Thanks."

"It's alright. It's least I can do for you."

"So, what are you gonna do about the...?"

"I guess we're gonna find out..."


	9. Father and Son

Adrien's limousine arrived at the Agreste Mansion. Adrien and Liam got out of the limo and walked into Mansion. They were in the entrance hall where Gabriel Agreste was standing at the top in his authoritative stature. The bodyguard walked in to act as a barrier between Liam and Gabriel. When Liam saw Gabriel, he gasped, but soon restored his calm expression and took out a pair of glasses out of his schoolbag and.

"Hello, Adrien." The man said. "I heard about the attack at the school. I assume that you see it as another reason not to go there anymore. And may I ask who this ordinary boy is?"

"For the record, Father," Adrien answered. "I caused that akuma attack, and this 'ordinary boy' put himself at risk to protect me from the villain. He stalled the villain and even fought him without any powers. The best part is: I didn't ask him to help me. Didn't threaten him with our bodyguard, he just chose to face the villain alone and kept him busy until Ladybug and Cat Noir showed up. He actually got thrown through a window. Doesn't that show you loyalty?"

"It shows blind loyalty." Gabriel replied, before turning to Liam. "You were the one who fought an akuma villain?"

Adrien show expression of anger and turned to face Liam who was still calm and collected on the outside.

"Yes. That's me. I'm... Scott." Adrien's expression turned to a puzzled one. "Scott Donoko."

"Well, Scott. You are either really brave or really stupid. But despite that, I am extremely grateful to you for protecting my son at a time when no one else. To show my gratitude, I will do one thing for you. Just name it."

Liam didn't need to think twice about his wish. "I'd like you to allow Adrien to still attend the school that he loves so much. I don't know what happens between you two at home, but..." Liam stopped. "Actually, Adrien, I think it's best that _you_ tell your father how you're feeling." Adrien turned to face his father. "I can leave if you want."

"No, L- Scott." Adrien said. "Please stay. You're being a really good friend." Adrien took a breath. "Father. I want to stay at that school because I'm happy there. As Nino once told you, I do my best and I'm almost always top of the class. I also have some really great friends, Scott we've already established why he's a good friend. Then there's Nino, who is not as bad an influence as you believe him to be. When I first started school, he found out that my only friend was Chloé and helped me make new ones. Then there's Marinette. She is the most kind, honest, friendly and... beautiful person I've ever met. She honestly reminds me of mom. And that's another thing that my time outside of home has shown me: that our pain is not unique-"

"Adrien." Gabriel interrupted.

"Father, let me finish. Our pain is not unique. There are many more people who are going through either the same thing or something very similar to us. We can remain hopeful that mom is still alive, but others don't have that hope because they've found out their loved ones are gone for good. So I don't feel upset as much about mom because I'm lucky to have hope that she's still alive. We're both lucky. Another reason why I don't feel as sad as I used to is because my friends are always there for me. I used to cry myself to sleep every night because mom was gone. That stopped after I started going to school and you were, and still are, distancing yourself from me." Adrien began tearing up at what he was realizing in his speech. "At the point when I n-needed you the most, you put more focus in your w-work and..." Adrien couldn't hold back and let tears run. "You abandoned me! Left Natalie to carry the burden of me! I was alone! No father, no mother, no friends." Adrien walked up the stairs to face his father, screaming. "WHERE WERE YOU, DAD?! WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I NEEDED YOU THE MOST?!" Adrien made a fist and went to press the side of it on his father's chest, but Gabriel grabbed Adrien's wrist without hurting him. The Agreste father was getting upset himself.

"Adrien. Is that what you see yourself as? A burden?" Gabriel knelt down so his face was on the same level as his son's and gently grabbed hold of Adrien's biceps. "Adrien, when your mother disappeared, I was devastated. The woman I loved, the woman I still love, who I chose to spend the rest of my life with, was gone. And I didn't know where she was so I could find her, or why she disappeared. Was she taken? If so, why? Did she leave? If so, why? Was it my fault? If I did something wrong, how could I make it right? Even before we married, I always swore to put her first. And then, we had you and... I made a promise that I would lay down my life for you. I also made a promise that I would become a man that you would be proud to call your father. When your mother disappeared I realized that I couldn't keep that promise." Gabriel started stuttering. "I-i-i wasn't th-there for you b-because I thought you'd take one look at me... And you would rather say your bodyguard was your father. I..." Adrien could never be prepared for what came next. "...was a coward." There was a long silence "I was so scared of becoming a failure as a father that I gave the responsibilities to someone else." Gabriel soon started crying. "And I became a failure for not even trying. I should have listened to the one thing your mo- that Maria always said: Better to try and fail than not try at all. This is why I say this to you. I love you, Adrien. And I'm so proud of you. I always believed in the back of my mind that you'd become a good man, but the maturity you have shown throughout you despair and doing your best to deal with it? You're already twice the man that I am. I ask, no, I BEG you, Adrien. Please, give me one chance to be the father I vowed to be, and I will never let you down again."

Adrien and Gabriel looked into each other's eyes. The two Agrestes took deep breaths. Finally Adrien answered.

"O-Okay, fa-. Dad." The father and son hugged each other for first time in an eternity. All the while, Liam had been watching. He decided not to ruin the moment and instead whispered to Adrien's bodyguard about him leaving and showed himself out. Reaching the gate, Liam looked up at the afternoon sun and smiled.

Liam began thinking to himself. 'We all make mistakes. It doesn't make us failures, it makes us human. Adrien's finally told his father how he's felt and Gabriel's listened. Those two look to have a bright future, and that starts by Gabriel facing the consequences of the past.'


	10. We've found you!

Liam walked and walked and walked. Headphones on, music playing away, the kid feeling like crying tears of happiness. After what happened at the Agreste Mansion, Liam felt a need to rest and relax. Unfortunately, fate did feel the same way, as he soon received a phone call. Bridgette. Liam answered.

"Hey, Bridgette." Liam said warmly.

 _"Hi, Liam. I saw the videos you sent through those glasses. I have to say: I am so proud of you, Liam. You've helped Adrien find his voice to talk to his father. I don't think he could've done that on his own. And there's also the whole fiasco at the school. I can't believe you stood up to an akuma villain without the watch."_

"I always told myself, Liam if you're nothing without the watch, then you're less than nothing with it. I also had that feeling that if just one ordinary citizen can fight an akuma villain, then there's no need for the city to be scared of them anymore."

 _"Let's hope the people who saw you think that as well. In the meantime, Liam, that akuma seems to have stopped in one place, it's been there for over an hour, so I think it's worth checking out."_

"Where?"

Bridgette told Liam where the akuma was rested.

 _"Sacré-Cœur."_

Liam stopped in his tracks. "Sacré-Cœur. We have him now."

 _"Do not engage, Liam! Only investigate. And I'm sending Ladybug as well. We'll leave Cat Noir to deal with his... civilian problems. But if you find Hawk Moth's lair there, call Cat and wait for him before engaging. Try and hide your face as well. No doubt Hawk Moth will have seen you through the akuma's eyes and will recognise you."_

"Got it." Liam saw a bus stop in over the road. He went over, set his bag down and waited for a bus to take him as close as it could. When the bus arrived, he picked up his bag, got on the bus and sat down. Whilst on the way there, the bus reached a bus stop and one of the passengers that got on was Marinette. She noticed Liam and sat next to him.

"Bridgette told me everything." Marinette whispered. "We're only looking for his hideout for now."

"And if we truly believe we've found the lair, we call Cat Noir first and wait for him." Liam stopped for a second. "You know, if we catch Hawk Moth, then Ladybug and Cat Noir have done their job. What will you do?"

"If we do defeat him, Ladybug won't be going anywhere. She's not here just to defeat super villains, she also protects the innocent from disasters that can be caused by ordinary people."

"That's a good mindset... I need to talk to you about something. I was around Adrien's earlier."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I assume you've heard about his father's ultimatum? Well, I went round there to help Adrien with the problem. The thing you need to know is during the conversation, Adrien said about a girl: 'She's kind, honest, beautiful.' I'm surprised Mr. Agreste didn't pick up on it. "

"Does that mean? Oh my god, he's got someone. Oh please, don't let it be someone in our class?"

"Afraid so."

"Who is it?"

"I ain't telling ya, but you can guess."

Marinette stroked her chin.

"Lila?

"No."

"Alya?!"

"Don't be daft. They'd be betraying you and Nino."

"Fair enough. Ugh, it's not Chloe, is it?"

"If Chloe was the last girl on the planet, Adrien wouldn't go there after the racism at my old school."

"Who could it be, then? No one else seems to impress Adrien."

"No one?"

"Are you trying to tell me something?"

"Marinette, I know you're clumsy, but you're not stupid."

Marinette shrugged her shoulders.

"Mari... It's you!" Marinette gasped and fainted from the shock. Liam whispered to Marinette's kwami.

"Tikki? What do I do?"

Tikki opened Marinette's purse from the inside and told Liam what to do.

"Flick your finger on her ear."

Liam obeyed and flicked Marinette's ear and she came back round to reality.

"HE LIKES ME?!" She shrieked, startling Liam, the passengers and bus driver.

"Young lady!" The driver said with his head fixed on the road in front of him. "Keep your voice down back there!"

Marinette answered, her face turned scarlet from embarrassment. "Sorry, sir." Marinette talked to Liam again, keeping her voice down but struggling to restrain her happiness.

"I can't believe he me likes."

Liam noticed Marinette's speech error, but did nothing to correct it. "Well, he said it. I would've thought that he was talking about Ladybug, but he explicitly said your name."

"I think I've died and gone to heaven. I fell for him the day Cat Noir and Ladybug stopped Stoneheart."

"You'll have plenty of time to tell him how you feel after we've brought Hawk Moth to justice. And I can deal with Chloé."

"Thanks, Liam."

"You can count on me. We're pretty much family." Liam paused for a moment. "I know my 'sister-in-law told us not to bring our friend in till we found George, but he has a right to know. Not informing him would imply we didn't trust him." Liam got out his phone and plugged headphones in so that Marinette couldn't hear who he was speaking to. He opened his contacts in his phone, and turned the screen away from Marinette. He selected 'Adrien' and his phone began calling. Marinette could only hear Liam's side of the conversation. "Hi, er, are you alone? Great. We never got to tell you this till now, but our mutual friend and I discovered something about our target, his name. George Erickson. Yeah. Even more so, we found out that every gem he sends for us, we've been sending it back. We made a plan to track one and the tracker leaves the gem at Sacré-Cœur. I think we've snagged him. Can you get over here? Right. If you see me, don't approach me. We can't risk you seeing LB out-of-costume and vice versa. And don't arrive dressed up. If George is there and he sees you, he'll make a run for it. Okay. Right, see you there." Liam hung up and turned to Marinette. "This idea's getting worse by the second."

"What other chance are we gonna get?" Marinette asked.

"Yeah. I think we should try and relax till we get there."

"Agreed."

The two teens remained silent for the remainder of the bus journey.

The bus didn't stop right in front of Sacré-Cœur, so they had to walk the remaining distance. When they got there, there were many people around.

Liam spoke. "This is good. We can blend in easier." Together with Marinette, Liam entered the crowds. Looking at Sacré-Cœur, Liam came to the conclusion of where the best place for Hawk Moth to hide would be.

"If he's here, he'll be in one of those circular windows in Basilica." Liam pointed. Whilst he and Marinette were gazing, Tikki opened Marinette's purse and called her.

"Marinette!" Tikki whispered. Marinette looked and saw her purse open. Panicked, she grabbed the purse so no one could see what was inside. When she did, she found Tikki... with three pairs of glasses and what looked like three earplugs. There was also a note that Tikki gave Marinette.

 _The guy who gave us the trackers also gave us these heat vision specs and earpieces. You'll be able to communicate with each other and see anyone in an isolated location. Give one of each to the Cat. - Bridgette_

"She must have slipped them in this morning." Marinette gave an earpiece and a pair of glasses to Liam. Liam put on the accessories and fiddled with the glasses, activating the thermal vision. As he looked around, the environment was turned white everyone around him was surrounded in black. He turned to face Marinette, making him jump and remove the glasses. Marinette jumped as well, attracting the attention of some onlookers.

"Er, sorry everyone." Liam said. "Petrified of me own shadow. Carry on." Everyone kept going about their business, some occasionally looking at Liam, who had put his glasses back on. Looking at the windows at Basilica, Liam saw something.

"There's someone in the right window! And there are little black things flying around... We've got him!" Liam phoned Adrien again, repeating the process of preventing Marinette from discovering Cat Noir. "Are you around Sacré-Cœur? Then imagine you're facing the main entrance of Basilica... There's two points on each side with circular windows. Our mentors have left us some gifts, and we think we've spotted him in the right window. You see it? The three of us have got to find somewhere isolated and transform. Get ready." Liam hung up and nodded at Marinette. Marinette nodded back and the two power-walked to a secluded location, power. There, Marinette opened her purse.

"We've got him!" Tikki shouted as she flew out of Marinette's purse, confusing Liam and Marinette.

"How are you so sure?" Liam asked.

"I could sense his kwami from so far away! It's Nooroo. He's in despair. Hawk Moth's using him for the wrong purpose and it's taking its toll."

"Then let's save him." Marinette said before shouting. "TIKKI, SPOTS ON!" The words were uttered while Liam tapped the yellow circle on his wristwatch, making his costume materialise over him. Ladybug and the Hornet were here...

At another secluded location, Adrien was with Plagg.

"Reconciling with my dad AND finding Hawk Moth on the same day?" Adrien said to his kwami. "Maybe fate's cutting us some slack."

"At least it'll give me more time to enjoy that delicious camembert!" Plagg answered.

"PLAGG, CLAWS OUT!" With that phrase, Adrien transformed into Cat Noir. Using his pole to extend into the sky, he searched and found Ladybug and the Hornet, lowered back to the ground and used to staff to fly to them. He reached them in a matter of seconds.

"So what's the plan?" Cat Noir.

"He's in the window on the right." Ladybug said. "In order to get him, we need to break it. We can't just go in trough the building's entrance, for obvious reasons."

"I think I should go in first." Hornet said. "That way, people will blame me for the property damage and he might not be expecting me."

Ladybug and Cat Noir nodded. Hornet flew up and charged at the window. When he was close enough, he flipped around to dive feet first into the window and dropkick the person into the shadows. The person was startled and quickly got up and grunted.

"This was between Ladybug, Cat Noir and I!" The person said. "You shouldn't have gotten involved, Hornet!"

"I'm willing to help them anyway I can." At that point, Ladybug and Cat Noir entered. Ladybug spoke as the figure stepped out of the shadows.

"You're terror is over," Ladybug said. "Hawk Moth!"


	11. It's all come to this

Ladybug, Cat Noir and Hornet stood in front of the villain that had been terrorising Paris. Ladybug's thoughts were on what would happen if they failed.

'If we lose, we'll never get to capture him again.' Ladybug thought.

"You don't know how to beat me, do you?" Hawk Moth asked.

"We know not to attack on-by-one." Hornet answered.

"And with that..." Cat Noir said, before he and Hornet went to attack. Hawk Moth jumped, flipped upside down, grabbed the two heroes and smashed their heads together. All three heroes were taken back by this. They didn't know what Hawk Moth could do.

Ladybug threw her yo-yo at the villain - which wrapped itself around his cane, and yanked it away from him.

Hawk Moth grunted. "You think I need my cane for the akumas?!" He clicked his fingers and the butterflies around the room swarmed the three heroes, latching on to them flying them into a wall with each of them facing Hawk Moth, who walked towards them, took Ladybug's yo-yo and Cat Noir's staff and searched the Hornet.

"You're a new one." The villain said. "The bee Miraculous?"

"I don't make miracles happen." The Hornet answered.

"Really? You think Ladybug and Cat Noir could've found me on their own?"

"A little more time, you'd have slipped up."

"Oh, you know me well, do?"

"As a matter fact I do... George."

With that name spoken, Hawk Moth's blood boiled. He waved his right hand down, causing the akumas to release the Hornet, with some latching to the heroes wrist. Unaware of these, Hawk Moth pulled the string from Ladybug's yo-yo and wrapped it around the Hornet's neck.

Hornet wiggled his legs as he choked on the string being pulled tighter and tighter around his neck. Ladybug and Cat Noir looked on in horror.

"STOP IT!" Ladybug begged.

Ignoring the heroine's pleas, Hawk Moth interrogated the Hornet.

"How do you know George Erickson?"

"Through his former teammates. Kid Mime, Sparrow, Mercury, Melodie. They all want him to pay for his betrayal."

"Huh." Hawk Moth whispered to himself. "I knew it would work."

"You knew it-?" Cat Noir butted in, stopping himself at the realisation. "It wasn't George who betrayed them. You did it while posing as him!"

Hawk Moth grunted. "How did you hear-?"

"These cat ears aren't just for show, you know."

Hawk Moth let go of the yo-yo and came face to face with the Cat.

"I was just gonna take your Miraculous, but now I'm afraid I'll have to take your lives."

Hornet quickly recovered and activated his wings. Hovering, he dove forward and grabbed Hawk Moth, releasing Ladybug and Cat Noir from the akumas and sending Hawk Moth and himself tumbling to the ground from Hawk Moth's struggling. The heroes of Paris grabbed what Hawk Moth had dropped and held on to each other as Cat Noir extended his staff to get them down as well. When they came down, police and media were all over the place. Nadja Chamack was there, reporting on the incident.

"It is not yet known what caused the window to break, but there were images of two people falling from the-" Her report was interrupted when the Hornet was thrown near her and Hawk Moth jabbed his cane into his right arm bicep, causing the Hornet to scream in agony (in his distorted voice) and the yellow on the costume arm to start turning red. Ladybug and Cat Noir witnessed this gruesome event and Ladybug reacted.

"We need to take Hawk Moth's miraculous!" Ladybug shouted before throwing her yo-yo up in the air. "LUCKY CHARM!" Out of the yo-yo came a sword and two shields, Ladybug catching the sword and one shield with Cat Noir catching the other one. "A sword and shields?"

"Hawk Moth did just use his cane as a sword." Cat Noir said. Ladybug looked for what she could do and she spotted Hawk Moth's cane and brooch and Cat Noir's staff and right hand.

"We fight him with these and if we lose, you use you power on his brooch."

"Got it."

The two of them snuck around Hawk Moth, who was pulling his cane out of the Hornet's arm, causing more screaming.

"Let this be a message, Paris!" Hawk Moth addressed the city through the cameras. This included all of Marinette, Adrien and Liam's friends and family. Alya was in the crowd filming for the Ladyblog, Alix was at home with her father and brother, Marinette's parents were watching on their T.V.

At the agreste mansion, Gabriel Agreste was watching in shock and anxiety.

"Natalie!" Gabriel shouted. His secretary came and responded.

"Sir."

"Bring the car around, we have to get to Sacré-Cœur immediately!"

"Sir, the battle's going-"

"Adrien was on his way there to meet some friends! I just started being a good dad and I will not let him get hurt." Natalie instantly nodded and left to go and get the car.

Back at Sacré-Cœur, Hawk Moth continued. "Dressing up in bright, colorful uniforms to fight bad guys will not end well." Hawk Moth went to strike the Hornet down when Cat Noir, staff in his left hand and shield in his right, blocked his cane.

"Good thing I dress in black." Cat Noir answered. Hawk Moth swung at him, but the shield deflected his cane. Hawk Moth then ran towards the crowd, ready to stab anyone he could. Unfortunately for him, Ladybug landed in front of him and hit him with her shield, sending him flying and crashing next to Cat Noir. Seeing the opportunity, Cat Noir seized it.

"CATACLYSM!" The hero dropped his shield and activated his superpower. He placed his palm on Hawk Moth's brooch, but rather than decaying, the brooch gave a burst of energy and detached from Hawk Moth, who came around and quickly ran, leaving the brooch behind. Ladybug ran after him, snapping the her sword's blade from the handle and throwing the handle at him. The force was enough to knock him onto his stomach. Ladybug caught up and turned him over backing away in shock when she saw his face. She saw the face before, but now it was severely scarred, like some cut the face off, cut it into several pieces and put it back on piece by piece. Hawk Moth started cackling at Ladybug's reaction.

"You're looking at the face of George Erickson!" Ladybug was in so much shock that she could only utter two words.

"GABRIEL AGRESTE?!"

* * *

AN: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

On a serious note, I'd like to thank all those who reviewed, favorited, liked and followed this story and I also apologise for not thanking you sooner. I actually don't have a reason apart from being too ambitious about getting this story done (I stayed up all night to get two chapters done and the adrenalin kicked in). Next chapter will deal with the aftermath and will probably be the last chapter. So, to those who have been reading this, I hope you've enjoyed the story and I will speak to you in the final chapter. Later.


	12. Epilogue

Ladybug stood in awe at the reveal of Hawk Moth's face. Hawk Moth laughed.

"You seem surprised." Hawk Moth said. "Guess you don't have a good memory."

"W-what do you-?" Ladybug asked.

"You didn't hear Gabriel's voice when I announced myself? That man's got a lot to answer for."

"YOU akumatized everyone, not Gabriel!"

"That doesn't mean he's in the clear."

"And what did he do anyway?"

"Leave the detective work to the professional, kid. We'll see each other again." Hawk Moth threw a little ball on the ground and black smoke burst out, blinding Ladybug. The heroine frantically waved her arms to clear the smoke, but when it was gone, so was Hawk Moth.

"NO!" Ladybug said in frustration. "Stupid! I let him stall so he could escape! At least he left the brooch behind. If that's even the miraculous."

Ladybug walked backed to Cat Noir, Hornet and the Crowd. Ladybug saw that the Hornet was still injured and realised she needed to repair the damage done. Taking the shield Cat Noir had, she yelled "Miraculous Ladybug!" and the damage was undone and the Hornet's arm healed. Cat Noir helped the Hornet onto his feet, Ladybug picked up the brooch Hawk Moth left behind, and the crowd surrounded the heroine. Nadja Chamack quickly took advantage and shoved her microphone in Ladybug's face.

"Ladybug!" Nadja said. "Where is Hawk Moth now? Did he get away? Is his terror over?" Ladybug remained startled and blinded by camera flashes that she felt were about induce a seizure until a voice came closer to her through the crowd.

"Get back! Ladybug, do not answer any questions." The voice reached Ladybug and Nadja, who saw the face of Félix Rejeter, wearing a sand colour, open trench coat.

"Hello, Constantine!"

Félix did not smile at Nadja's comment and turned to Ladybug. "Hello, Ladybug." Félix reached inside his trench coat and pulled out a Detective badge. "Detective Félix Rejeter. I need you and your teammates to answer a few and questions."

"Is this an investigation, Detective?"

"Nadja Chamack, right? I heard you were once cautioned for interfering with a case by doing what you're doing now. I was also told that if you did it again, it was time to slap the cuffs on." Félix smiled. "Do you have a babysitter?" Nadja backed off and walked away with her cameraman. "That's what I thought. Okay, Ladybug, Cat Noir and... whoever you are..." Félix pointed at the Hornet. "Could you come with me?" The three heroes nodded and followed Félix to a police car, where Sabrina's policeman father, Roger was waiting there. Ladybug handed out the brooch to Félix, who put on some latex gloves, took the brooch and placed "Did you get a look at Hawk Moth's face when he was unmasked?"

"Yes. I did." Ladybug answered. "He..." Ladybug hesitated. "His face was identical to Gabriel Agreste." Cat Noir and Hornet's eyes widened. "Except it was scarred all over. Like he had cut it off, cut in into pieces and then put it back together. And he stated it was the face of George Erickson." Félix was writing everything down.

"But I saw Gabriel Agreste at his mansion earlier." Cat Noir interrupted. "And his face was in one piece."

"Interesting." Félix said, while hearing the beeping from the Miraculous. "You've done enough, you two. Hawk Moth may have escaped, but he no longer wears this brooch and know what he looks like. It's only a matter of time before he's behind bars." Félix sulked and turned around. "Get out of here, Chamack! I'm not asking again!" Nadja and her cameraman ran away. "You two should leave as well, you're about to time out."

Ladybug gasped. "Okay. Happy to help, detective. Bug out!" Ladybug swung away with her yo-yo and Cat Noir ran and jumped towards the eiffel tower. Félix turned to face the Hornet. "You're a new one."

"Call me the Hornet." Hornet answered, pretending he didn't know his brother. "And I gotta go as well, my powers are playing up. If we meet again, I hope it's not under these circumstances." Hornet activated his wings and flew away. Félix got in the police car with Roger in the driver seat and the two drove back to the police station. During the drive, the two of them discussed Hawk Moth.

"So that brooch is what gave him his powers?" Roger asked.

"Well, Ladybug gets hers from the earrings and Cat Noir gets his from the ring." Félix answered. "Not unbelieveable."

"At least he can't cause any more terror. But why did Ladybug say he looked like Gabriel Agreste? Was he trying to frame him?"

"We'll ask him when we catch him. Where could he hide now that we know what he looks like? We will need to speak to Gabriel Agreste about this matter, see if there's a reason why someone wants to wear his face? First, let's get this in evidence lockup."

* * *

As Félix and Roger drove to the police station, Ladybug returned to the bakery roof and transformed into Marinette. Tikki flew out of Marinette's earring and started celebrating.

"We did it! We did it! Yeah!" The kwami chanted. Tikki turned to Marinette and saw that she was upset. "What's the matter, Marinette?"

"Tikki." Marinette said. "Did it really make a difference? Hawk Moth escaped. It feels like Stoneheart again. Not capturing him is gonna come back to haunt us. I didn't purify Stoneheart's akuma the first time and look what happened."

"Marinette. He may have gotten away, but now he doesn't have the Moth Miraculous. Do you remember what happened with Stoneheart?" Marinette shook her head. "You captured the akuma the second time. And you'll get Hawk Moth when we see him again." Marinette smiled.

"Thanks, Tikki."

"Anytime. My friend."

* * *

Cat Noir returned to the Agreste Mansion, turning back into Adrien in the garden, away from the cameras. Plagg flew out of Adrien's ring and spoke to him.

"Why are you and Ladybug so happy? Liam had us go through all of that and we LOSE Hawk Moth!"

"We still got his Miraculous. His terror is over for now."

"Yeah, for now. He'll come back. Plus, Ladybug claimed he looked like your old man."

"That's the thing. I know my dad's nowhere to be seen, and he's upset over mom, but he wouldn't. It's not who he is. Plus Ladybug said his face was scarred. It's obviously an impostor." At that moment, Adrien's phone rang. "Dad. Get in my pocket, Plagg." Plagg snuck into the inside pocket of Adrien's shirt while Adrien answered the phone. "Hello, dad. I'm sorry, I was supposed to ring you. On my way there, my friends said they weren't going anymore. Wait, what? Hawk Moth!? Did they get him? Aw, man. Well, I'm at home. I'm sorry for panicking you. I'll be here. I'm not going anywhere. Okay. Goodbye." Adrien hung up. "Thank god he's alright." Adrien walked into the house and observed the picture of himself and Gabriel,puzzled. "Who'd wanna frame dad for these attacks?"

* * *

The Hornet flew through the skies trying to reach Félix and Bridgette's house, but his wings kept deactivating.

"Gah! What the hell?" Hornet tried to reach the house, but his wings gave in. "Nononononono!" CRASH! The sound echoed around as the hero crashed into the back garden. Lucky for him, Bridgette was in the house and came out to check on him.

"Liam!" Bridgette called out as she ran to him. "You okay?"

"Yeah." He answered, changing back into Liam Rejeter. "Don't what caused that... Malfunction."

Bridgette observed. "Maybe it was those butterflies on the watch." Liam lifted his arm to see that some of the akumas had latched onto the watch. "I think they were some that were purified." Bridgette touched the top of Liam's watch and holograms came out.

"What the?" Liam fiddled with the watch and saw that the hologram changed from one akuma villain to another. "These are telling us which akumas I have." Liam started going through them. "Timebreaker, Evillustrator, Princess Fragrance, Lady Wifi, Bubbler. What does this mean?"

"I wish I knew Liam. I wish I knew."

* * *

At a secret location, "Hawk Moth" as he was still being called was in pure darkness ranting to himself.

"Those miscreants! I finally had my chance at revenge and that Hornet blows it for me. Now I have to start again! I'll kill him, Agreste and everyone for what they did." His ranting was disturbed by the sound of smashing glass. "Who's there?!"

A distorted, deep voice spoke. "How are you gonna do that, now?"

"Who are you?" When Hawk Moth asked. Sudden bursts of flames flew at him in a flame thrower fashion. A figure was standing in the shadows, with the figure of an anthropomorphic ant. He looked to be the same height as Ladybug.

"Look at it this way. Each hero has a villain. Ladybug and Cat Noir have you. The Hornet has me. I'll get him out of the way and you can make your move."

"While that sounds great, how can I trust you? Who are you?"

The figure fired his flamethrower at the floor and was circled in fire, showing his appearance. He had a full body suit that was black with a singular red pad on his breasts, one on the outer sides of his forearms, biceps, thighs and calves and numerous one on his hands to cover the back of his hands and each part of each finger. He also wore a black helmet with glowing red eye lenses and strange gauntlets on his forearms that looked like they were made of barbed wire. The flamethrowers were also attached to these gauntlets. The figure chuckled.

"You can call me... Fire Ant!"

* * *

AN: OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! Well, this was a great story for me to write. This is the end, and I'll say: I'm gonna change the name of this story because the original 'Consequences of the Past' isn't accurate. But I do plan on making a story that will use that title. And yes as shown, there will be a sequel, which will include characters that I created for this story but left them out.

I hope you've all enjoyed reading this story as much as I loved writing it. I'd like to thank all those who reviewed, favourited and followed this story. Thank you for reading and I will see you all later.


End file.
